yo-heave-ho

American

[yoh-heev-hoh] / ˈyoʊˈhivˈhoʊ /

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.

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

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

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 Hitchcock, Champion Ingraham

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 Conquest, Joan

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