Definition of heave
(Entry 1 of 2)
3 : to utter with obvious effort or with a deep breath
heave a sigh of relief
4a : to cause to swell or rise
a spent horse gasping and heaving his chest Frost had heaved the sidewalk.
b geology : to displace (something, such as a rock stratum or a mineral vein) especially by a fault
5 : to draw, pull, or haul on (something, such as a rope)
heave a line
1a : to rise and fall rhythmically
The boat heaved up and down on the waves.
b : pant runners heaving at the finish line
b : to move a ship in a specified direction or manner
c past tense usually hove : to move in an indicated way
the ship hove into view
3 : to rise or become thrown or raised up
Roads had begun to heave with frost.
5 : to strain or labor to do something difficult : struggle
heave to
: to halt the headway of a ship (as by positioning a sailboat with the jib aback and the rudder turned sharply to windward)
heave
nounDefinition of heave (Entry 2 of 2)
1a : an effort to pull or raise something
with each heave of the rope
b : an act or instance of throwing : hurl gave the ball a heave toward the basket
3 geology : horizontal displacement especially by the faulting of a rock
the total heave of the strata
4 heaves plural in form but singular or plural in construction, veterinary medicine : chronic pulmonary emphysema of the horse resulting in difficult expiration, heaving of the flanks, and a persistent cough
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Time Traveler for heave
The first known use of heave was before the 12th century
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