Word.ws English Dictionary

gave someone the heave-ho

gave someone the heave-ho is the simple past of give someone the heave-ho.

Meaning of give someone the heave-ho

Verb

give someone the heave-ho (third-person singular simple present gives someone the heave-ho, present participle giving someone the heave-ho, simple past gave someone the heave-ho, past participle given someone the heave-ho)

  1. (UK, idiomatic) To fire, expel or break up with someone.
    • I'm looking for work again because they gave me the heave-ho.
  2. To eject a player or manager from the game.

Questions about gave someone the heave-ho

What is gave someone the heave-ho the simple past of?
Gave someone the heave-ho is the simple past of give someone the heave-ho.

Words near gave someone the heave-ho in the dictionary

  1. gave someone the chair
  2. gave someone the cold shoulder
  3. gave someone the creeps
  4. gave someone the eye
  5. gave someone the gears
  6. gave someone the heave-ho
  7. gave someone the old heave-ho
  8. gave someone the runaround
  9. gave someone the shits
  10. gave someone the slip
  11. gave someone the time

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gave someone the heave-ho (page history and authors); give someone the heave-ho (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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