/hiːv/
OriginFrom Middle English heven, hebben, from Old English hebban, from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to take up, lift”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pyéti, from the root *kap-. See also have.
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian heffe, Dutch heffen ("to raise", "to lift"), German heben ("to raise", "to lift"), Danish hæve ("to raise", "to lift"), Albanian kap (“I grasp, seize”), Old Irish cáin (“law, tribute”), cacht (“prisoner”), Latin capiō (“to take”), Latvian kàmpt (“to seize”), Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”), κώπη (kṓpē, “handle”)).
(To lift, to raise): Compare typologically Russian поднима́ть (podnimátʹ), подня́ть (podnjátʹ) (akin to има́ть (imátʹ), име́ть (imétʹ) < Proto-Slavic *jьmati, *jьměti).
- transitiveTo lift with difficulty; to raise with some effort; to lift (a heavy thing).
“We heaved the chest-of-drawers up to the second-floor landing.”
“He hove himself out of the bed.”
- transitiveTo throw, cast.
“They hove rocks into the pond.”
“The cap'n hove the body overboard.”
- intransitiveTo rise and fall.
“Her chest heaved with emotion.”
“Frequent for breath his panting bosom heaves.”
“the heaving plain of ocean”
- transitiveTo utter with effort.
“She heaved a sigh and stared out of the window.”
“The wretched animal heaved forth such groans.”
- transitiveTo pull up with a rope or cable.
“Heave up the anchor there, boys!”
- archaic, transitiveTo lift (generally); to raise, or cause to move upwards (particularly in ships or vehicles) or forwards.
“Here a little child I stand, / Heaving up my either hand; […]”
- intransitiveTo be thrown up or raised; to rise upward, as a tower or mound.
“The grovving Tovv'rs like Exhalations riſe, / And the huge Columns heave into the Skies.”
“where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap”
“17 June, 1857, Edward Everett, The Statue of Warren
the heaving sods of Bunker Hill”
- transitiveTo displace (a vein, stratum).
- archaic, transitiveTo cause to swell or rise, especially in repeated exertions.
“The wind heaved the waves.”
- ambitransitiveTo move in a certain direction or into a certain position or situation.
“to heave the ship ahead”
“Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight.”
- intransitiveTo retch, to make an effort to vomit; to vomit.
“The smell of the old cheese was enough to make you heave.”
- intransitiveTo make an effort to raise, throw, or move anything; to strain to do something difficult.
“She [The Church of England] had ſtruggl'd and heav'd at a Reformation; ever ſince Wicliffs dayes, for about a 150 years together: […]”
- British, obsoleteTo rob; to steal from; to plunder.
“Ben mort (good vvench) ſhal you and I heaue a booth, mill a ken, or nip a bung? ſhall you and I rob a houſe, or cut a purſe?”
- countableAn effort to raise something, such as a weight or one's own body, or to move something heavy.
“We gave one more heave and the wall toppled over at last.”
“July made no reply but that of a sigh. For she was thinking of the heave she must make to see herself lifted from the ground.”
- countable, uncountableAn upward motion; a rising; a swell or distention, as of the breast in difficult breathing, of the waves, of the earth in an earthquake, etc.
“and now the bed shook, the curtains rattled so, that I could scarce hear the sighs and murmurs, the heaves and pantings that accompanied the action, from the beginning to the end” — Fanny Hill
“The slab and piles will work together to resist 'ground heave' (the upward movement of the ground as it tries to push up into the box).”
- countable, uncountableA horizontal dislocation in a metallic lode, taking place at an intersection with another lode.
- countable, uncountableThe measure of extent to which a nautical vessel goes up and down in a short period of time.
- countable, uncountableAn effort to vomit; retching.
- attributive, countable, rare, uncountableBroken wind in horses.
“The dust would have to be watched out for with a heave horse, and most alfalfa hay...”
“The late stage is recognized by horse people as the true "heave" horse and at this stage most of the airways are partially or completely obstructed.”
“The bay horse was straining at the time the picture was taken, making its heave line more noticeable.”
- countable, uncountableA forceful shot in which the ball follows a high trajectory
“That left 15 needed from Boult's final set. Two dots were followed by a heave over deep mid-wicket, then came the outrageous moment of fortune.”
Formsheaves(present, singular, third-person) · heaving(participle, present) · heaved(past) · hove(error-unknown-tag, past) · heaved(participle, past) · hove(error-unknown-tag, participle, past) · hoven(participle, past) · heft(participle, past) · heaves(plural)