the (old) heave-ho

noun phrase

informal

: the act of causing someone to leave a job, place, or relationship

The team's coach gave him the heave-ho for missing practices.

We got the old heave-ho when we couldn't pay the rent on our apartment.

Examples of the (old) heave-ho in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Cheng will spend a year as a $400,000 adviser to the CSCU Board of Regents, the group that gave him the heave-ho this spring after revelations of Cheng mismanaging some of his many perks. —Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 17 May 2025

Kindergarten family portraits with the artist’s name signed in crayon, a creative writing assignment, or any other piece that feels particularly sweet or impressive is worth hanging on to, but Rosenthal says the rest of those paper piles should get the heave-ho. —Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 16 May 2025

A good number of plants and flowers also got the heave-ho, and the irrigation system was replaced with a new one. —Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019

Cage doesn’t get a toe in the tide before he’s given the heave-ho by a pretentious group of quasi-spiritual surfers called the Bay Boys. —Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2025

Even activities meant to celebrate certain groups are getting the heave-ho. —Emily Peck, Axios, 20 Feb. 2025

Charleson used to joke that she wasn’t received with open arms by many of the cast and crew, who were upset that her predecessor was given the heave-ho. —Rosemary Rossi, Variety, 12 Jan. 2025

Finally, dingy, discolored, or stringy towels need to get the heave-ho. —Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 3 Jan. 2025

Rosario Dawson brings gravitas to the role of former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, who teams up with her rule breaker of an apprentice, Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), to give the heave-ho to the in-the-shadows Grand Admiral Thrawn and his ardent followers. —Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 25 Jan. 2024