Heave Definition

hēv
heaved, heaves, heaving, hove
verb
heaved, heaves, heaving, hove
To raise or lift, esp. with effort.
Webster's New World
To lift in this way and throw or cast.
Webster's New World
To throw.
Webster's New World
To make strenuous, spasmodic movements of the throat, chest, or stomach.
Webster's New World
To utter (a sigh, groan, etc.) with great effort or pain.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
noun
heaves
The act or effort of heaving.
Webster's New World
An act of hurling; a throw, especially when considered in terms of distance.
A heave of 63 feet.
American Heritage
A throw.
Webster's New World
An upward displacement of soil, rocks, etc., usually caused by frost or moisture.
Webster's New World
An upward movement of a surface, especially when caused by swelling and expansion of clay, removal of overburden, or freezing of subsurface water.
American Heritage
idiom
heave into sight
  • To rise or seem to rise over the horizon into view, as a ship.
American Heritage
heave ho!
  • an exclamation used when heaving or lifting something heavy, as by sailors when heaving in the anchor
Webster's New World
heave to
  • to stop forward movement, esp. by bringing the vessel's head into the wind and keeping it there
  • to stop
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Heave

Noun

Singular:
heave
Plural:
heaves

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Heave

Origin of Heave

  • From Middle English heven, hebben, from Old English hebban, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to take up, lift”) (compare West Frisian heffe, Dutch heffen, German heben, Danish hæve), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pyé-, from the root *keh₂p- (compare Old Irish cáin 'law, tribute', cacht 'prisoner', Latin capiō 'to take', Latvian kàmpt 'to seize', Albanian kap (“I grasp, seize”), Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”), κώπη (kṓpē, “handle”)).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English heven from Old English hebban kap- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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