# heave

> English word · Verb · IPA /hiːv/ · frequency rank #32,841

## Definitions
1. To lift with difficulty; to raise with some effort; to lift (a heavy thing).
2. To throw, cast.
3. To rise and fall.
4. To utter with effort.
5. To pull up with a rope or cable.
6. To lift (generally); to raise, or cause to move upwards (particularly in ships or vehicles) or forwards.
7. To be thrown up or raised; to rise upward, as a tower or mound.
8. To displace (a vein, stratum).
9. To cause to swell or rise, especially in repeated exertions.
10. To move in a certain direction or into a certain position or situation.
11. To retch, to make an effort to vomit; to vomit.
12. To make an effort to raise, throw, or move anything; to strain to do something difficult.
13. To rob; to steal from; to plunder.

## Etymology
From 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).

## Easily confused with
- **hee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-hee)
- **here** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-here)
- **hive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-hive)
- **hehe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-hehe)
- **hove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-hove)
- **heavy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-heavy)
- **hence** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-hence)
- **hedge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-hedge)
- **Hesse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-hesse)
- **Heine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-heine)
- **Hoare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-hoare)
- **heaven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-heaven)
- **Hervey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-hervey)
- **heavier** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-heavier)
- **heavens** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heave-vs-heavens)
- **hav** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hav-vs-heave)
- **hea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hea-vs-heave)
- **have** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/have-vs-heave)
- **head** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/head-vs-heave)
- **hear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hear-vs-heave)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ehave`, `haeve`, `heaev`, `heavve`, `hevae`, `hheave`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/heave