heave-ho
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of heave-ho
Noun use of phrase heave ho, Middle English havehou, hevelow
Explanation
When you give something the heave-ho, you get rid of it. If your mom has had enough of your dad's beloved cuckoo clock, she might decide to give it the heave-ho. Anything you dispose of gets the heave-ho, and the same goes for people who lose their jobs or get kicked out. "He's looking for a new place — I guess his roommates gave him the old heave-ho." This informal word has a nautical source; it's an old sailor's chant or cry that was used while a heavy anchor was being hauled up out of the water.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When LSU gave him the heave-ho in October, the athletic director cited Coach Kelly’s failure to “lead us to multiple SEC and national championships.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 2025
The four MPs who have been given the heave-ho were called in one at a time to see the Chief Whip Sir Alan Campbell just after Prime Minister's Question Time.
From BBC • Jul. 17, 2025
Cage doesn’t get a toe in the tide before he’s given the heave-ho by a pretentious group of quasi-spiritual surfers called the Bay Boys.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2025
When a landlord in Sag Harbor gave him the heave-ho, he moved into a storage unit, showering in an office building that kept its doors unlocked at night.
From New York Times • Jun. 24, 2023
Then with a grand heave-ho we shoved the bed away from the wall.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
