Word.ws English Dictionary

eave

UK/iːv/US/iv/

eave is the alternative form of eaves.

Meaning of eaves

Noun

eaves pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) The underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building.
    • Him that you term'd Sir, the good old Lord Gonzallo, / His teares runs downe his beard like winters drops / From eaues of reeds: […]1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
  2. (broadly, plural, plural-only) Something that extends over or projects beyond.
    • But after many strains and heaves / He got up to the Saddle eaves.1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678...

See all 4 meanings of eaves

Forms of eave

pluraleaves

Origin of eave

A back-formation from eaves, from a misinterpretation of the -s ending as forming a plural.

Words formed from eave

Words that rhyme with eave

45 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about eave

What is eave the alternative form of?
Eave is the alternative form of eaves.
How do you pronounce eave?
Eave is pronounced /iːv/ (UK).

Words near eave in the dictionary

  1. eaus de vie
  2. eaux de cologne
  3. eaux de vie
  4. eaux fortes
  5. EAV
  6. eave
  7. eaved
  8. eavedrop
  9. eavedrops
  10. eaveless
  11. Eavenson

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: eave (page history and authors); eaves (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “eave.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/eave. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.