Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also ride-by) a shooting that is carried out by gunmen firing from a moving car.

[1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 45: Then there’s that Korean girl who got shot on the drive-by homicide].
1988		J.D. Vigil Barrio Gangs 133: Drive-bys, a more widespread gang habit in recent years, have become a common occurrence. Drive-bys usually are premeditated.
1993		K. Scott Monster (1994) 43: I did so many ride-bys, drive-ups, drive-throughs and chase-aways in her car.
1999		Guardian G2 24 Nov. 2: ‘We don’t know whether it was a drive-by or a walk-up,’ said a police spokesman.
2000		W. Shaw Westsiders 98: Los Angeles has given the twentieth century many new words and phrases: one of them is ‘drive-by’.
2001		(con. 1990s) in J. Miller One of the Guys 141: ‘For maybe a drive-by they might wanna have a bunch of dudes’.
2006		in C. Gifford Gangs 31: I don’t really like to do drive-bys, because innocent people might get hit, you know? My homeboy shot a baby in the head. He felt bad about it [...] but he was like, ‘Thats what happens sometimes.’.
2015		67 ‘Take It There’ 🎵 Doing drive-bys, hitting no one, bruh that's a waste.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] Da Force is with you, not against you. Unless you’re slinging dope, assaulting people, raping women, doing drive-bys.

2. in attrib. use of sense 1.

2015

P. Beatty Sellout (2016) 22: Some drive-by homie, representing some color, clique [...] can stick his gauge out the passenger-side window of a two-tone coupe.

3. a slow drive past a given place; no violence is involved.

1997

N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 21: Left by them railings. Do a li’l drive-by.

4. surveillance from a moving car.

1990		R. Campbell Sweet La-La Land (1999) 184: They gave me two uniforms, one to a shift, two shifts. Also frequent drive-bys.
2000		Lehr & O’Neill Black Mass 80: Long accompanied Fraelickon a few drive-bys to view the activity for himself.

5. (N.Z. prison) a surprise attack on a fellow-inmate.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 62/1: drive-by (also drive-by hit) n. a surprise attack upon another inmate.

6. (US black) in fig. use of sense 1, a record that openly attacks a fellow performer .

2007

W.J. Cobb To the Break of Dawn 155: [A] love song on Resurrection, not any of the gonad-grabbing drive-bys he'd performed on Can I borrow a dollar?, generated his first conflict with another established artist.