English

Alternative forms

• heave ho

Interjection

heave-ho

1. exclamation used when pulling, especially by sailors while pulling on a rope
   • 1837, Nathaniel Hawthorne, "A Bell's Biography", The Snow Image and Other Twice Told Tales

     Heave ho! up they hoisted their prize, dripping with moisture, and festooned with verdant water-moss.

Related terms

• yo-heave-ho

Translations

Noun

heave-ho ‎(plural heave-hoes or heave-hos)

1. A cry of heave-ho.

   He gives the wrestler the old heave-ho, but he's got not enough heave and too much ho!

2. (informal) A rejection, a forced removal (often in the phrase give/get the (old) heave-ho)
   • 2002, Days of our Lives (TV, August 8)

     Why would you think I'm still seeing Colin Murphy? I gave him the heave-ho, remember?

Verb

heave-ho ‎(third-person singular simple present heave-hoes, present participle heave-hoing, simple past and past participle heave-hoed)

1. (informal) to pull forcefully
   • 1840, Richard Henry Dana, Two Years Before the Mast

     They were heave-ho-ing, stopping and unstopping, pawling, catting, and fishing, for three hours;

Derived terms

• to give someone the (old) heave-ho