Word.ws English Dictionary

have a thing

have a thing verb: to be in a casual or illicit romantic relationship.

Verb

have a thing (third-person singular simple present has a thing, present participle having a thing, simple past and past participle had a thing)

  1. (informal) To be in a casual or illicit romantic relationship.
    • Brad and Mary have a thing.
    • They’ve got a thing.
  2. (informal) To have a crush on, or a soft spot for, someone or something.
    • Brad has a thing for Mary.
    • I have a thing for ghost stories.
  3. (informal) To have an issue, such as a hang-up.
    • Don't ask Mary to drive you there, because she has a thing about highway driving. It sometimes gives her panic attacks.
    • He has a thing about not stepping on sidewalk cracks.

Synonyms of have a thing

Forms of have a thing

third-person singular presenthas a thing
present participlehaving a thing
past participlehad a thing
pasthad a thing

Questions about have a thing

What does have a thing mean?
Have a thing means to be in a casual or illicit romantic relationship.
What part of speech is have a thing?
Have a thing is a verb.
What is the past tense of have a thing?
The past tense of have a thing is had a thing.

Words near have a thing in the dictionary

  1. have a snootful
  2. have a stab
  3. have a tantrum
  4. have a thick head
  5. have a thin time of it
  6. have a thing
  7. have a thing going on
  8. have a tiger by the tail
  9. have a time
  10. have a time of it
  11. have a tinkle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: have a thing (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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