heave / hēv/ • v. (past heaved or chiefly Naut. hove / hōv/ ) 1. [tr.] lift or haul (a heavy thing) with great effort: she heaved the sofa back into place he heaved himself out of bed. ∎  Naut. pull, raise, or move (a boat or ship) by hauling on a rope or ropes. ∎ inf. throw (something heavy): she heaved half a brick at him.2. [tr.] produce (a sigh): he heaved a euphoric sigh of relief.3. [intr.] rise and fall rhythmically or spasmodically: his shoulders heaved as he panted. ∎  make an effort to vomit; retch: my stomach heaved.• n. 1. an act of heaving, esp. a strong pull. ∎  Geol. a sideways displacement in a fault.2. (the heaves) inf. a case of retching or vomiting: waiting for the heaves to subside.3. (heaves) a disease of horses, with labored breathing.PHRASES: heave in sight (or into view) chiefly Naut. come into view: the three canoes hove into view.PHRASAL VERBS: heave to Naut. (of a boat or ship) come to a stop, esp. by turning across the wind leaving the headsail backed: he hove to and dropped anchor.DERIVATIVES: heav·er n.

heave
1. The amount of horizontal (lateral) displacement between two sides of a dipslip fault, measured at right angles to the strike of the fault.

2. Lifting of earth due to frost (see FROST HEAVE TEST), overloading, swelling clay, etc.

3. Upwarp in the floor of a mine due to the floor being too weak to resist the forces resulting from the weight of the overlying rock on the adjacent, supporting pillars.

heave (obs. dial. or techn.) lift, raise OE.; throw, cast, haul up XVI; rise XIV. OE. str. vb. hebban = OS. hebbian (Du. heffen), OHG. heffen (G. heben), ON. hefja, Goth. hafjan :- Gmc. *χabjan, rel. to L. capere take. Pt. hove survives in some uses, but for the most part weak forms (already found in late OE.) prevailed.