heave-ho

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   An exclamation used when pulling, especially by sailors while pulling on a rope.

   • Heave ho! up they hoisted their prize, dripping with moisture, and festooned with verdant water-moss.
2. 2

   A cry of heave-ho.

   • Over the water came the clank and rattle of chains and the "Heave-ho!" of the sailors getting ready for departure.
   • The slow, rhythmic movement of the gang to the steady “Heave ho” began again.
3. 3

   An ejection

   An ejection; a forced removal; a dismissal (as from a job or relationship).

   • When I was a kid—well, more of a kid than I am now—I used to believe he really was a bishop—unfrocked, of course, or ungaitered, or whatever they call it when they give a bishop the heave-ho.
   • "My sister, may she rest in peace, might have had a much better life if she had given her husband, Ernie, the heave-ho before she married him," Florence said.
   • Why would you think I'm still seeing Colin Murphy? I gave him the heave-ho, remember?
4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      To pull forcefully.

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

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