having

Syllables: ha·ving/ˈhævɪŋ/

having is the present participle and gerund of have.

Noun

having (countable and uncountable, plural havings)

The act of possessing; ownership.
- He thus came to think of perceiving as a complex of 'havings,' not a complex of 'havings' and 'doings.'2002, Ronald Jager, The Development of Bertrand Russell's Philosophy
Something owned; possession; goods; estate.
- Out of my lean and low ability
  I’ll lend you something: my having is not much;
  I’ll make division of my present with you:
  Hold, there’s half my coffer.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Your havings wasted by the scythe and spade—
  Your rights and charters hobnail’d into slush—1875, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Queen Mary, London: Henry S. King, act II, scene 2, page 80
(obsolete) A person's behaviour.
(Scotland, in plural, obsolete) Good manners.

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

(transitive) To possess, own.
- I have a house and a car.
(transitive) To hold, as something at someone's disposal.
- Look what I have here—a frog I found on the street!
(transitive) To include as a part, ingredient, or feature.
- The stove has a handle. The shirt has sleeves.
(transitive) Used to state the existence or presence of someone in a specified relationship with the subject.
- I have two sisters.
(transitive) To consume or use up (a particular substance or resource, especially food or drink).
- I have breakfast at six o'clock.
(transitive) To undertake or perform (an action or activity).
- Can I have a look at that?

having (comparative more having, superlative most having)

(obsolete) Grasping; greedy.
- The new man in Humanity, which is the communication of the Son of Man Who is the Interceder, is an asking man, although it is not a greedy and a having man.1875, Christ and the people, sermons, page 282

188 more phrasesFewer phrases

What does having mean?: Having means the act of possessing; ownership.
What is having the present participle and gerund of?: Having is the present participle and gerund of have.
What part of speech is having?: Having can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce having?: Having is pronounced /ˈhævɪŋ/.
What is the plural of having?: The plural of having is havings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: having (page history and authors); have (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-having.ogg.

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