give someone the heave-ho
give someone the heave-ho verb: to fire, expel or break up with someone.
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)
- To fire, expel or break up with someone.
- I'm looking for work again because they gave me the heave-ho.
- I accused her in set terms of giving me the heave-ho in order that she could mercenarily marry a richer man.1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter X
- Synonyms:
- give the axe, give the elbow, give someone the boot
- To eject a player or manager from the game.
Synonyms of give someone the heave-ho
Forms of give someone the heave-ho
| third-person singular present | gives someone the heave-ho |
|---|---|
| present participle | giving someone the heave-ho |
| past | gave someone the heave-ho |
| past participle | given someone the heave-ho |
| alternative form | give somebody the old heave-ho |
Questions about give someone the heave-ho
- What does give someone the heave-ho mean?
- Give someone the heave-ho means to fire, expel or break up with someone.
- What part of speech is give someone the heave-ho?
- Give someone the heave-ho is a verb.
- What is the past tense of give someone the heave-ho?
- The past tense of give someone the heave-ho is gave someone the heave-ho.
Words near give someone the heave-ho in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-give someone the heave-ho.ogg.
Cite this entry: “give someone the heave-ho.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/give_someone_the_heave-ho. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.