heaves 1 of 2

present tense third-person singular of heave
1
as in hoists
to lift with effort I heaved my duffel bag into the bus's overhead compartment

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2
as in vomits
to discharge the contents of the stomach through the mouth heaved as soon as he stepped off the roller coaster

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3
4
5
as in gasps
to breathe hard, quickly, or with difficulty by the time he reached the top step of the tower, he was heaving

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heaves

2 of 2

noun

plural of heave

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of heaves
Noun
Several mega-talented Georgia defensive backs appeared to short-circuit and forget how to track a ball in the air on Tennessee heaves. Jason Kirk, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heaves
Verb
  • Tramell Tillman hoists his trophy up high at the Apple TV+ party.
    Alex Apatoff, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Matthew hoists the Cup on the cover of the standard edition of NHL 26 — the first player to do so since Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks on NHL 16.
    Carol Schram, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • That horrible mistake reveals itself several scenes later when Katie projectile vomits into her windshield.
    Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025
  • The first crazy thing that happens to the movie Smurls is when a kitchen chandelier almost falls on them, though the most visceral is when oldest sister Dawn Smurl (Beau Gadsdon) suddenly vomits up pieces of glass, leaving the sink and her face a bloody mess.
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Fittingly, these finals get a full seven-game layout, and the team to earn four wins lifts the trophy (then sprays the trophy with sparkling wine).
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Warm water lifts grime better and helps deep clean better than cold.
    Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Mahomes set the tone for Worthy with their deep 37-yard connection early, but the two vintage Mahomes throws came later — a fade in the second quarter to Travis Kelce and his fourth and final touchdown to Hollywood Brown in the fourth quarter.
    Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Prescott completed 12 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown on those 14 throws under pressure.
    Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Demerzel gasps, and for once Day isn’t preening in the mirror but bowing his head.
    JP Mangalindan, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Trump has repeatedly targeted Schiff and routinely hurls insults at the lawmaker, who was a central figure in his first impeachment.
    Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 16 Sep. 2025
  • From that 2020 article, Ghaywan has built out a narrative that hurls us, with both urgency and restraint, into the fault lines of India.
    Anupama Chopra, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
  • The birds, sourced from Jurgielewicz Farms, an Amish producer in Pennsylvania that raises Peking ducks exclusively, are hung to dry overnight.
    Mackensy Lunsford, Nashville Tennessean, 2 Oct. 2025
  • In painting such a devastating picture of Biden, Harris raises questions about her own political judgment.
    Book Marks October 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The second of those four TD tosses was the 250th of Mahomes’ career, and no quarterback in NFL history had reached that milestone in fewer games.
    Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Miles Mykkanen’s Sam gets to unsheathe his glinting high tenor, and Lauren Snouffer’s 14-year-old Sarah tosses her lithe soprano voice into airborne vaults.
    Justin Davidson, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Heaves.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heaves. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.

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