hove
/hoʊv/verb
hove is spelled H-O-V-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, hove means “To remain; delay” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hove?
| Letters | 4: H-O-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,820th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hove?
Hove appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hove?
- UK /həʊv/
- US /hoʊv/
Hove has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hove.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hove?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hove from its last stressed vowel (/oʊv/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of hove
- hoves present, singular, he/she/it
- hoving participle, present
- hoved participle, past
- huve
- huff
- houf
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hove mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo remain suspended in air, water etc.; to float, to hover.
- 2
obsoleteTo wait, linger.
- 3
obsoleteTo move on or by.
- 4
To remain; delay.
- 5
To remain stationary (usually on horseback).
- 6
To raise; lift; hold up.
- 7
To rise.
- 8
simple past and past participle of heave
- 9
obsoletesimple past and past participle of heave
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does hove come from?
From Middle English hoven (“to linger, wait, hover, move aside, entertain, cherish, foster”), from Old English *hofian (“to receive into one's house”), from Proto-Germanic *hufōną (“to house, lodge”), from Proto-Germanic *hufą (“hill, height, farm, dwelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *keup- (“to arch, bend, buckle”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).