Heave definition
Heaved the box of books onto the table.
Heaved a sigh; heaved a groan.
When you struggle to lift a heavy object, this is an example of a time when you heave.
When you throw something across the room, this is an example of a time when you heave it across the room.
When you try to throw up and make retching noises, this is an example of a time when you heave.
The wind heaving huge waves; an exhausted dog heaving its chest.
Heave the shot; heaved a brick through the window.
Hove the anchor up and set sail.
Hove the ship astern.
The sidewalk froze and heaved.
Heave for air.
The frigate hove alongside.
The brig is heaving around on the anchor.
A heave of 63 feet.
Heaving waves.
- To retch; vomit or strain to vomit.
- To pant; breathe hard; gasp.
A ship hove into sight.
We heaved the chest-of-doors on to the second-floor landing.
The wind heaved the waves.
Her chest heaved with emotion.
To heave the ship ahead.
Heaved his backpack into the corner.
With a great heave hauled the fish onto the deck.
- To rise or seem to rise over the horizon into view, as a ship.
- an exclamation used when heaving or lifting something heavy, as by sailors when heaving in the anchor
- to stop forward movement, esp. by bringing the vessel's head into the wind and keeping it there
- to stop
Origin of heave
- Middle English heven from Old English hebban kap- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- 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