Skip to main content
PlainSpell

push

/pʊʃ/verb, noun

push is spelled P-U-S-H: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 66 times per million words in written English, the 1,602nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, push means “To apply a force to (an object) such that it moves away from the person or thing applying the force” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in push?

Letters4: P-U-S-H
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing66 times per million words; the 1,602nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

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 push?

Push appears 66 times per million words in written English, the 1,602nd 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 push?

  • /pʊʃ/
  • [pʷʊʃ]
  • /pʉʃ/

As a noun (“A pustule; a pimple”): /pʊʃ/, /pʌʃ/.

Push 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: En-us-push.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with push?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as push.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: shup.

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 push

  • pushes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • pushing participle, present
  • pushed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does push mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To apply a force to (an object) such that it moves away from the person or thing applying the force.

    In his anger he pushed me against the wall and threatened me.

  2. 2

    To continually attempt to persuade (a person) into a particular course of action.

    December 22, 1711, letter to The Spectator Ambition […] pushes the soul to such actions as are apt to procure honour and reputation to the actor.

  3. 3

    To press or urge forward; to drive.

    to push an objection too far; to push one's luck

  4. 4

    To continually promote (a point of view, a product for sale, etc.).

    Stop pushing the issue – I'm not interested.

  5. 5

    To continually exert oneself in order to achieve a goal.

  6. 6

    informalTo approach; to come close to.

    My old car is pushing 250,000 miles.

  7. 7

    To tense the muscles in the abdomen in order to give birth or defecate.

    During childbirth, there are times when the obstetrician advises the woman not to push.

  8. 8

    To continue to attempt to persuade a person into a particular course of action.

noun

  1. 1

    A short, directed application of force; an act of pushing.

    Give the door a hard push if it sticks.

  2. 2

    An act of tensing the muscles of the abdomen in order to expel its contents.

    One more push and the baby will be out.

  3. 3

    A great effort (to do something).

    Some details got lost in the push to get the project done.

  4. 4

    An attempt to persuade someone into a particular course of action.

  5. 5

    A force that impels or pressures one to act.

  6. 6

    A marching or drill maneuver/manoeuvre performed by moving a formation (especially a company front) forward or toward the audience, usually to accompany a dramatic climax or crescendo in the music.

  7. 7

    A wager that results in no loss or gain for the bettor as a result of a tie or even score

  8. 8

    The addition of a data item to the top of a stack.

  9. 9

    UKobsoleteA pustule; a pimple.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Push in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpousser (to apply a force to something so that it moves…), poussée (short, directed application of force; act of…)
Germandrücken, schieben, stoßen (to apply a force to something so that it moves…), Schubs, Stoß (short, directed application of force; act of…), drängen (to continually attempt to persuade into a…)
Portugueseempurrar, tchovar (to apply a force to something so that it moves…), empurrão (short, directed application of force; act of…), pressionar (to continually attempt to persuade into a…), forçar (to continually attempt to promote point of…), contrair (intransitive: to tense the muscles of the…)
Spanishempujar, achuchar, embutiar, embutar, emburriar (to apply a force to something so that it moves…), difundir (to continually attempt to promote point of…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does push come from?

From Middle English pushen, poshen, posson, borrowed from Middle French pousser (Modern French pousser) from Old French poulser, from Latin pulsare (“to beat, strike”), frequentative of pellere (past participle pulsus). Doublet of pulsate and pulse (verb). Partly displaced native Old English sċūfan, whence Modern English shove.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after push