shove
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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shoves,
present (3rd person singular)
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shoved,
past participle, past
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shoving
present participle
-
to move along by force from behind; push.
Could you help me shove this table back to where it was?
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to push roughly or rudely; jostle.
Hey, quit shoving us—you can wait your turn like everyone else.
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Slang: Often Vulgar. to go to hell with.
Voters are telling Congress to shove its new tax plan.
verb (used without object)
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shoves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shoved,
past participle, past
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shoving
present participle
-
to push.
OK, all hands on the back of this crate, and on the count of three, shove!
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Baseball. to pitch with exceptional focus and effectiveness.
This young closer is spoiling us—we assume he’ll walk out to the mound and shove, and that’s exactly what he does.
noun
verb phrase
idioms
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shove it, (used to express contempt or belligerence): Also stick it
I told them to take the job and shove it.
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when / if push comes to shove. push.
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shove it up your / one's ass, go to hell: a term of contempt, abuse, disagreement, or the like. Also stick it up yourone's ass
noun
verb
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to give a thrust or push to (a person or thing)
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(tr) to give a violent push to; jostle
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(intr) to push one's way roughly
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informal (tr) to put (something) somewhere, esp hurriedly or carelessly
shove it in the bin
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shovesimple
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shovessimple
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have shovedperfect
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has shovedperfect
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am shovingprogressive
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are shovingprogressive
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is shovingprogressive
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have been shovingperfect progressive
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has been shovingperfect progressive
Past
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shovedsimple
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had shovedperfect
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was shovingprogressive
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were shovingprogressive
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had been shovingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shove1
First recorded before 900; (for the verb) Middle English shouven, shuven, Old English scēofan, scūfan; cognate with Dutch schuiven, obsolete German schauben, Old Norse skūfa; akin to Gothic -skiuban; noun derivative of the verb
Origin of shove2
First recorded in 1680–90; apparently variant of shive 2
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.
See Examples For:
On First Light, however, Ms. Brauer has to unstrap, shove across and resecure heavy packages before she can risk the same exercise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
When push came to shove, the human with the archive was always right.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Tuchel actively encouraged this friendly rivalry, but when push came to shove in the heat of a World Cup, he went for Bellingham's world class, big-game experience and pedigree.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
The calming locales both complement and contradict the plot’s revelations, which are hardly bombshells but do speak to how well-to-do families labor to shove inconvenient skeletons into the closet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Ducking, with all my might, I shove the man’s back.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
They said the agency at the time opted against tough discipline for controllers, in part because managers condoned the early shoves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
And another AI video on X depicts the pair running together through a city engulfed in flames before the female executive shoves him aside in a dramatic scene.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
But rather than fix it, the owner sends balls of dough to another firm that shoves them in a working oven and sells the loaves back to the baker.
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2024
Since we came for the shock value, the camera shoves our faces in its guts, bellowing to eat up.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2024
He shoves my foot upward; swinging my right leg, I grip the saddle’s horn.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Yaniv Hayun, a passenger, said in a video shared by Israel’s public broadcaster that he and another man found the door was unlocked but blocked by the fallen pilot, so they shoved it open.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Multiple parents recounted a Christmas photo-op in which an ICE agent dressed as Santa Claus shoved away children who tried to hug him, then vanished with his treats the moment the cameras disappeared.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Why is that a favored constitutional provision while this stuff all gets shoved to the side?
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
Storage space is at a premium, and outfits often end up "shoved somewhere".
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Anat had shoved the projector out of its booth, hoping that it would be enough to smash the glass before racing here to try and bring Boaz and Molly’s sister back.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
“I’d never played a game like that with as many cheap shots and people shoving you in the back” forward Bradley Barcola said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Video footage showed mourners pushing and shoving each other to get close to the casket as it was carried by hand through the mausoleum's halls.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Almiron and Muldur were not directly involved in the pushing and shoving, but the game was in a heated situation.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
In New York, the opening of the Swatch store in Times Square was met with "pushing and shoving" in the waiting crowd, John McIntosh, who had been in line since Wednesday, told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 16, 2026
She glanced over my shoulder at a bunch of boys down the hallway, laughing and shoving each other in a rowdy, end-of-school-day sort of way.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
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.
