shove

[ shuhv ]

/ ʃʌv /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shove ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), shoved, shov·ing.

to move along by force from behind; push.

to push roughly or rudely; jostle.

Slang: Often Vulgar. to go to hell with: Voters are telling Congress to shove its new tax plan.

verb (used without object), shoved, shov·ing.

to push.

noun

an act or instance of shoving.

Verb Phrases

shove off,

to push a boat from the shore.
Informal. to go away; depart: I think I'll be shoving off now.

Nearby words

Idioms

shove it, Slang: Often Vulgar. (used to express contempt or belligerence): I told them to take the job and shove it.Also stick it.

shove it up your/one's ass, Slang: Vulgar. go to hell: a term of contempt, abuse, disagreement, or the like.Also stick it up your/one's ass.

when/if push comes to shove. push(def 35).

Origin of shove

before 900; (v.) Middle English schouven, Old English scūfan; cognate with Dutch schuiven, obsolete German schauben, Old Norse skūfa; akin to Gothic -skiuban; (noun) Middle English scou, derivative of the v.

Related formsshov·er, nounun·shoved, adjective

shove

[ shohv ]

/ ʃoʊv /

noun

boon³.

Origin of shove

apparently variant of shive²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shove

The four of them move to the boat, right it, balance the mattress across its bow and shove it towards the water.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq|Nathan Bradley Bethea|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The era of singers telling loser boyfriends to shove off and demanding more from men was over.
Beyoncé Is Our Indigo Girl: The Halcyon '90s and Feminism's Resurgence in Pop Music|Amanda Marcotte|August 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When push comes to shove, the pressure of staving off Ghana, Portugal, and Germany fell on Howard.
Team USA Lost, but Tim Howard Is a Winner|Emily Shire|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He tries to shove his relationship with Amia into a box and that box explodes in his face.
Louie’s Elevator Romance: Can Love Exist Without Sex?|Amanda Marcotte|May 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST

This is power politics, I knew, and push would eventually and inevitably come to shove.
Republicans for More Fat Kids|Michael Tomasky|May 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then, as the night grew cold, Tish suggested that we shove them near the fire, which we did.
Tish, The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions|Mary Roberts Rinehart
He was drunk half the time an' wan't worth the attention it would take to shove him into the river.
The Starbucks|Opie Percival Read
If the day is not bright, shove your timer over to one-tenth of a second, or to one-fifth.
If You Don't Write Fiction|Charles Phelps Cushing
He gave me a shove across the threshold, while the door closed itself silently behind us.
Martin Hyde, The Duke's Messenger|John Masefield
As he started away he was forced to shove his way through the press around him.
'Firebrand' Trevison|Charles Alden Seltzer

British Dictionary definitions for shove

shove

/ (ʃʌv) /

verb

to give a thrust or push to (a person or thing)

(tr) to give a violent push to; jostle

(intr) to push one's way roughly

(tr) informal to put (something) somewhere, esp hurriedly or carelesslyshove it in the bin

noun

the act or an instance of shoving

Word Origin for shove

Old English scūfan; related to Old Norse skūfa to push, Gothic afskiuban to push away, Old High German skioban to shove

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for shove

shove

Old English scufan "push away, thrust, push with violence" (class II strong verb; past tense sceaf, past participle scoven), from Proto-Germanic *skeub-, *skub- (cf. Old Norse skufa, Old Frisian skuva, Dutch schuiven, Old High German scioban, German schieben "to push, thrust," Gothic af-skiuban), from PIE root *skeubh- "to shove" (cf. scuffle, shuffle, shovel; likely cognates outside Germanic include Lithuanian skubti "to make haste," skubinti "to hasten"). Related: Shoved; shoving.

Replaced by push in all but colloquial and nautical usage. Shove off "leave" (1844) is from boating. Shove the queer (1859) was an old expression for "to counterfeit money." Shove it had an earlier sense of "depart" before it became a rude synonym for stick it (by 1941) with implied destination.

shove

c.1300; see shove (v.).

Idioms and Phrases with shove

shove

see push comes to shove; push (shove) off; ram (shove) down someone's throat; stick (shove) it.

shove

verb (used with object), shoved, shov·ing.

verb (used without object), shoved, shov·ing.

noun

Verb Phrases

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of shove

shove

noun

Origin of shove

Examples from the Web for shove

shove

verb

noun

Word Origin for shove

shove

shove

shove