heaving
/ˈhiːvɪŋ/
heaving is the present participle and gerund of heave.
Adjective
heaving (comparative more heaving, superlative most heaving)
- Crowded with people.
- Kinlochewe was heaving with cyclists and their vehicles on Saturday morning but somehow,^([sic]) the organisers had found space for everyone and the main roads were kept clear.2006 July 30, Tim Downie, “Ride Report: Bealach-na-Ba”, in uk.rec.cycling (Usenet)
- The pool was heaving with screaming kids. By contrast the beach was virtually deserted, apart from the one day a cruise ship docked & a group of about 10 people appeared.2006 October 26, Krusty, “Krusty's Holiday”, in uk.rec.motorcycles (Usenet)
- Of the chest, rising and falling noticeably from exertion, emotion, or laboured breathing.
- Of the bosom, full, ample, or voluptuous in form, irrespective of movement.
- And here I might (if I followed the example of most travellers) launch out into a glowing description of the charms of these damsels, the elegant costumes they wore, and the gold and silver ornaments with which they were adorned. The jacket or body of purple gauze would figure well in such a...1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 343
- We also prefer the past, I think, despite the bloodshed and absence of analgesia, because we’re so relentlessly served our own history, from the medieval murk of King & Conqueror to the heaving cleavage of Bridgerton.2025 September 15, Emma Beddington, “A heaving Bridgerton cleavage or bloody decapitation? What your favourite era of history says about you”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Meaning of heave
Verb
heave (third-person singular simple present heaves, present participle heaving, simple past heaved or (nautical or occasional) hove, past participle heaved or (nautical or occasional) hove or hoven or heft)
- To lift with difficulty; to raise with some effort; to lift (a heavy thing).
- We heaved the chest-of-drawers up to the second-floor landing.
- To throw, cast.
- They hove rocks into the pond.
- To rise and fall.
- Her chest heaved with emotion.
- To utter with effort.
- She heaved a sigh and stared out of the window.
- To pull up with a rope or cable.
- Heave up the anchor there, boys!
- To lift (generally); to raise, or cause to move upwards (particularly in ships or vehicles) or forwards.
- Here a little child I stand, / Heaving up my either hand; […]1647–1648, Robert Herrick, “[Noble Numbers.] Another Grace for a Child.”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Complete Poems of Robert Herrick. […] (Early English Poets), volume III, London...
Noun
heaving (plural heavings)
- An occasion on which something heaves or is heaved.
- No swellings tell that winds may be Upon some far-off happier sea-- No heavings hint that winds have been On seas less hideously serene."1884, Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven
- His throne rocked with subterraneous heavings.1893, Thomas De Quincey, The Posthumous Works of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. II (2 vols)
Forms of heaving
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more heaving |
| superlative | most heaving |
| Noun | |
| plural | heavings |
Origin of heaving
Inherited from Middle English hevynge. By surface analysis, heave + -ing. See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Inherited from Middle English hevynge.
Words formed from heaving
Phrases with heaving
Words that rhyme with heaving
Questions about heaving
- What does heaving mean?
- Heaving means crowded with people.
- What is heaving the present participle and gerund of?
- Heaving is the present participle and gerund of heave.
- What part of speech is heaving?
- Heaving can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce heaving?
- Heaving is pronounced /ˈhiːvɪŋ/.
Words near heaving in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: heaving (page history and authors); heave (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-heaving.wav.
Cite this entry: “heaving.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/heaving. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.