yo-heave-ho

American

[yoh-heev-hoh] / ˈjoʊˈhivˈhoʊ /

interjection

(a chant formerly shouted by sailors to maintain a steady rhythm when hauling something together.)

yo-heave-ho British

/ ˌjəʊhiːvˈhəʊ /

interjection

a cry formerly used by sailors while pulling or lifting together in rhythm

"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

Etymology

Origin of yo-heave-ho

First recorded in 1795–1805

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:

yo-heave-ho

Your lion, Otto, is the subdued yo-heave-ho of the men.”

From The Island Queen by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

It is not wise to wade waist or knee deep in a Sunderbunds creek, and clear a boat with a yo-heave-ho, for fear of some festive mugger, which means alligator, lurking in the mud.

From Leonie of the Jungle by Joan Conquest

We wrapped ’em all in a mains’l tight, With twice ten turns of a hawser’s bight, And we heaved ’em over and out of sight— With a yo-heave-ho!

From The Dead Men's Song Being the Story of a Poem and a Reminiscent Sketch of its Author Young Ewing Allison by Champion Ingraham Hitchcock

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023