shove1
- 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.
- to push.
- an act or instance of shoving.
- shove off,
- to push a boat from the shore.
- Informal.to go away; depart: I think I'll be shoving off now.
- 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 shove1
shove2
Origin of shove2
Related Words
pokenudgedigelbowthrustcramjabhustleshoulderjambulldozecrowdpropelbuckdriveimpeljostlepressprodboostExamples from the Web for shove
Contemporary Examples
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 IraqNathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
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 MusicAmanda Marcotte
August 26, 2014
When push comes to shove, the pressure of staving off Ghana, Portugal, and Germany fell on Howard.
He tries to shove his relationship with Amia into a box and that box explodes in his face.
This is power politics, I knew, and push would eventually and inevitably come to shove.
Historical Examples
He then told me to shove off, which I did without waiting for a second order.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
With one shove the zinc-worker made his way through the crowd.
L'AssommoirEmile Zola
For a while, it was kick backwards, then a shove at the safe.
The Einstein See-SawMiles John Breuer
Well, shove in quinine, and keep him quiet, with hot bottles to his feet.
The Burning SpearJohn Galsworthy
Edward tumbled into the bottom of the boat, gasping, "Shove her off!"
The Golden AgeKenneth Grahame
shove
- 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
- the act or an instance of shoving
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for shove
v.
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.
n.
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.