• (stressed form)IPA^(key):/hæv/
  • (Received Pronunciation,US)IPA^(key):[hæv]

    • Audio(US):

      (file)

  • (General Australian)IPA^(key):[hæ̞v]

    • Audio(General Australian):

      (file)

  • (Standard Southern British,Canada)IPA^(key):[hav]

    • Audio(UK);“to have”:

      (file)

  • Homophone:halve(some accents)
  • Rhymes:-æv
• (unstressed form)IPA^(key):/həv/,/əv/,/ə/
• ('have to'):(UK,US)IPA^(key):/hæf/,(UK)IPA^(key):/hæv/
• (obsolete, stressed)IPA^(key):/heɪv/^[1]

FromMiddle Englishhaven, fromOld Englishhabban(“to have”), fromProto-West Germanic*habbjan, fromProto-Germanic*habjaną(“to have”), durative of*habjaną(“to lift, take up”), fromProto-Indo-European*kh₂pyéti, present tense of*keh₂p-(“to take, seize, catch”). Related toheave.

Since there is no common Indo-European root for a transitive possessive verbhave (notice thatLatinhabeō is not etymologically related to Englishhave), Proto-Indo-European probably lacked thehave structure. Instead, the third person forms ofbe were used, with the possessor indative case, compare Latinmihi est / sunt, literallyto me is / are.^[2]

• haue(alternative typography,obsolete)
• hae(Scottish-English)

have (third-person singular simple presenthas,present participlehaving,simple past and past participlehad)

1. (transitive) Topossess,own.^[5]

   Ihave a house and a car.

2. (transitive) Tohold, as something at someone'sdisposal.

   Look what Ihave here—a frog I found on the street!

   Do youhave the key?

   (not necessarily one's own key)

3. (transitive) To include as a part, ingredient, or feature.

   The stovehas a handle. The shirthas sleeves.

   The wordscow anddoghave three letters.

   A governmenthas three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial.

   The moviehas lots of action.

4. (transitive)Used to state the existence or presence of someone in a specified relationship with the subject.

   Ihave two sisters.

   She doesn’thave any friends.

   Ihave a really mean boss.

5. (transitive) Toconsume oruse up (a particularsubstance orresource, especiallyfood ordrink).

   Ihave breakfast at six o'clock.

   You've alreadyhad five drinks!

   She'shad more than enough time already.

6. (transitive) Toundertake orperform (an action or activity).

   Can Ihave a look at that?

   He'shaving a tantrum about it.

   I’m going tohave a bath now.

   Let’shave a game of tiddlywinks.

7. (transitive) To bescheduled toattend,undertake orparticipate in.

   What class do youhave right now? Ihave English.

   Fred won’t be able to come to the party; hehas a meeting that day.

   Ihave a lot of work to do.

8. (transitive) Toexperience,go through,undergo.

   Wehad a hard year last year, with the locust swarms and all that.

   Hehad surgery on his hip yesterday.

   I’mhaving the time of my life!

   I hope youhave a wonderful birthday.

   This year we'rehaving Christmas with my wife's family in Thunder Bay.

9. (transitive) To beafflicted with,suffer from.

   Hehad a cold last week.

10. (auxiliary verb, taking apast participle)Used in forming theperfect aspect.

    Ihave already eaten today.

    Mom's gone real mad, shehas.

    Ihad already eaten.

    I willhave left by the time you get here.

    This is the first time I've eaten lobster.

11. Used as an interrogative verb before apronoun to form atag question, echoing a previous use of 'have' as an auxiliary verb or, in certain cases, main verb. (For further discussion, see the appendixEnglish tag questions.)

    They haven’t eaten dinner yet,have they?

    Your wife hasn’t been reading that nonsense,has she?

    He has some money,hasn’t he?

12. (auxiliary verb, taking ato-infinitive)Seehave to.

    Ihave to go.

14. (transitive) Togive birth to.

    The couple always wanted tohave children.

    My wife ishaving the baby right now!

    My motherhad me when she was 25.

15. (informal, usually passive) Toobtain.

    The substance you describe can't behad at any price.

    • 1982,Rob Halford,K. K. Downing,Glenn Tipton, “You've Got Another Thing Comin'”, inScreaming for Vengeance, performed byJudas Priest, side 2, track 2:

      Out there is a fortune waiting to behad / You think I'll let it go you're mad / You've got another thing comin'

16. (transitive) To engage insexual intercourse with.

    He’s always bragging about how many women he’shad.

    • 2008 January–February, “70 Ways to Improve Every Day of the Week”, inMen's Health, volume23, number 1,→ISSN, page134:

      Tame midweek stress the fun way.Have each other before dinner to reconnect after a long day.

17. (transitive) To accept as aromanticpartner.

    Despite my protestations of love, she would nothave me.

18. (transitive with bare infinitive) Tocause to, by acommand,request orinvitation.

    Theyhad me feed their dog while they were out of town.

    Her very boyfriend is the person the criminalhas do most of her dirty deeds.

    The floor hashad oil dropped all over it.

    • 2002, Matt Cyr,Something to Teach Me: Journal of an American in the Mountains of Haiti, Educa Vision, Inc.,→ISBN, page25:

      His English is still in its beginning stages, like my Creole, but he was able to translate some Creole songs that he's written into English—not the best English, but English nonetheless. Hehad me correct the translations. That kind of thing is very interesting to me. When I was learning Spanish, I would often take my favorite songs and try to translate them.

19. (transitive with adjective or adjective-phrase complement) Tocause to be.

    Hehad him arrested for trespassing.

    I'd betterhave my watch repaired.

    The lecture’s endinghad the entire audience in tears.

    Jimhas his eyes closed.

20. (transitive with bare infinitive) To beaffected by an occurrence. (Used in supplying atopic that is not a verbargument.)

    The hospitalhad several patients contract pneumonia last week.

    I’vehad three people today tell me my hair looks nice.

21. (transitive with adjective or adjective-phrase complement) Todepict as being.

    Their stories differed; he said he’d been at work when the incident occurred, but her statementhad him at home that entire evening.

    • 2011 May 3, “Corrections and clarifications”, inThe Guardian‎^[3]:

      Anton Rogan, 8, was one of the runners-up in the Tick Tock Box short story competition, not Anton Rogers as wehad it.

22. (British,slang,transitive) Todefeat in afight;take.

    I couldhave him!

23. (British,slang,transitive) Toinflictpunishment orretribution on.
    • 2018 October 30, Dave Simpson, “The Buggles: how we made Video Killed the Radio Star”, inThe Guardian‎^[4], Guardian News & Media, retrieved20 March 2025:

      When we did a rerecorded version for Top of the Pops, the Musicians' Union bloke said, "If I think you're making strings sounds out of a synthesiser, I'm going tohave you. Video Killed the Radio Star is putting musicians out of business."

    You broke the window! Teacher’llhave you for that!

24. (dated outsideIreland,transitive) To be able tospeak (alanguage).

    Ihave no German.

25. (transitive) Tofeel or be (especiallypainfully)aware of.

    Dan certainlyhas arms today, probably from scraping paint off four columns the day before.

26. (informal, often passive,transitive) Totrick, todeceive.

    I bought a laptop online but it never arrived. I think I've beenhad!

    Youhad me alright! I never would have thought that was just a joke.

27. (transitive, in the negative, often in continuous tenses) Toallow; totolerate.

    The child screamed incessantly for his mother to buy him a toy, but she wasn'thaving any of it.

    I asked my dad if I could go to the concert this Thursday, but he wouldn'thave it since it's a school night.

    • 1922 October 26,Virginia Woolf, chapter II, inJacob’s Room, Richmond, London:[…]Leonard & Virginia Woolf at theHogarth Press,→OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press,1960,→OCLC,page19:

      “ You're a very naughty boy. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. I won'thave you chasing the geese!”

28. (transitive, often used in the negative) Tobelieve,buy, be taken in by.

    I made up an excuse as to why I was out so late, but my wife wasn'thaving any of it.

29. (transitive) Tohost someone; to take in as aguest.

    Thank you forhaving me!

30. (transitive) To get areading,measurement, orresult from aninstrument orcalculation.

    What do youhave for problem two?

    Ihave two contacts on my scope.

31. (transitive, of a jury) To consider acourtproceeding that has been completed; to begindeliberations on a case.

    We’ll schedule closing arguments for Thursday, and the jury willhave the case by that afternoon.

32. (transitive,birdwatching) To make anobservation of (a bird species).
    • 2005,Sean Dooley,The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page57:

      For some reason, "Ihad a Freckled Duck today" never seems to work as a pick-up line.

33. (transitive) Tocapture or actively hold someone'sattention orinterest.
    • 1977-1980,Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors),We Both Laughed In Pleasure

      Thurs nite I went to see Lou Reed[…] and Lou, oh God, he completelyhad me. I was lost at the foot of a god.

34. (transitive) Tograsp themeaning of;comprehend.

    Ah! Now Ihave it!

In certain dialects, expressions, and literary use, the lexicalhave can be used withoutdo-support, meaning the sentenceDo you have an idea? can also beHave you an idea? This makeshave the only lexical verb in Modern English that can function without it, aside from somenonce examples with other verbs in set phrases, as inWhat say you?, and aside from the verbbe where this is considered lexical.

The auxiliaryhave which forms the perfect tense never usesdo-support, soHave you seen it? cannot beDo you have seen it?.

A sentence can't end with a contracted form ofhave orhas, so the response toHave you done it? might beI have but notI've and, similarly, one might respond toHas he done it? withHe has but nothe's. Also,do ordoes cannot be followed by a contracted form ofhave orhas. It's possible to say or writeI do have orShe does have but notI do've orShe does've.

• (engage in sexual intercourse with):have one's way with,sleep with,take; see alsoThesaurus:copulate with

have (pluralhaves)

1. (usually contrastive) Awealthy orprivileged person.
   • 1981,Sepia:

     A good credit rating can mean the difference between being ahave or a have not.

   • 1999, Various,The Haves and Have Nots, Penguin,→ISBN:

     While these stories serve to make us conscious of the implications of being a “have” or a “have-not,” as with all good literature, they do much more than that. They provide a glimpse into lives that we might never encounter elsewhere.

   • 2021 April 5, Laura Vozzella, “Charlottesville mayor says graphic poem illustrates Black experience in city”, inThe Washington Post‎^[5]:

     A longtime advocate for racial and social justice with a degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, Walker, 40, got into politics at the urging of Edwards, an African American woman widely praised as a bridge-builder between the city’shaves and have-nots.

2. (uncommon) One who has some (contextually specified) thing.
   • 2010, Simon Collin,Dictionary of Wine, A&C Black,→ISBN:

     To find out whether you are ahave or a have not, did you understand the malo and Brett sentence a few lines back? If no, this doesn't make any difference to me, as you are the proud possessor of something the 'haves' haven't got. You know exactly what you like and why you like it. The 'haves' pretend to like and understand everything, which by the way is impossible. They deliberate over choosing a bottle in the shop for hours, ...

   • 2013, Kelda,Men Under a Microscope, Author House,→ISBN, page57:

     Generally, I can assure you that a woman's posterior causes a stir, whether she's considered ahave or a have not. But in most cases, men gravitate toward a pair of prominent gluteus muscles because they find this display appealing. This prominent protrusion can make a pair of jeans look like it was painted on, above just being good to look at. And by the way, it also incites some backshot (a Caribbean term for a well-known sex position) and spanking tendencies during sexual activity ...

   • 2014, Derek Prince,Ultimate Security: Finding a Refuge in Difficult Times, Whitaker House,→ISBN:

     The question you must answer is, “Do you have Jesus?” In Jesus, you have eternal life. If you do not have Jesus—if you have not received Him—you do not have “the life.” Are you a “have,” or are you a “have not”? That is a vital decision every person must make—a critical issue you have to resolve for yourself.

• have-not

• auxiliary verb
• past tense
• perfect tense

Fromhave on(“to deceive”).

have (pluralhaves)

1. (Australia,New Zealand,informal) Afraud ordeception; something misleading.

   They advertise it as a great deal, but I think it's a bit of ahave.

   • 2017 November 14, Joanna Davis, “Go with the flow in Abel Tasman National Park”, instuff.co.nz:

     "Open your eyes" is the company's tagline and part of its mission is to wake us up to the area's history, to the fact that New Zealand's '100% pure' marketing is a bit of ahave, as well as to share the encouraging conservation efforts under way.

• evah

FromOld Norsehagi, fromProto-Germanic*hagô, cognate withNorwegianhage,Swedishhage,Englishhaw,GermanHag,Dutchhaag.

• IPA^(key):/ˈhaːvə/,[ˈhɛːʊ],[ˈhɛːʋə]

have c (singular definitehaven,plural indefinitehaver)

1. garden
2. orchard
3. allotment

• “have,1” inDen Danske Ordbog

FromOld Norsehafa(“to have, wear, carry”), fromProto-Germanic*habjaną(“to have, hold”), cognate withEnglishhave,Germanhaben. The Germanic words are fromProto-Indo-European*kap- and arenot related toLatinhabeō.

• ha'

• IPA^(key):/ha(ːˀ)/,[(ˈ)hæ],[ˈhɛˀ],(formal)IPA^(key):/ˈhaːvə/,[ˈhɛːʊ],[ˈhɛːʋə]

have (present tensehar,past tensehavde,past participlehaft)

2. (transitive) tohave,have got
3. (auxiliary, with the past participle)have(forms perfect tense)

• have det
• have for
• have på
• have tilbage

• “have,2” inDen Danske Ordbog

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

• IPA^(key):/haːvə/,[ˈhæːʋə],[ˈhæːʊ]

have n

1. indefiniteplural ofhav

FromMiddle Dutchhave, derived from the verbhebben(“to have”).

• IPA^(key):/ˈɦaː.və/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation:ha‧ve
• Rhymes:-aːvə

have f (pluralhaven)

1. property,possession

• haveloos

• Afrikaans:hawe

• (Classical Latin)IPA^(key):/ˈha.u̯e/,[ˈhäu̯ɛ]
• (Affectation)(Classical Latin)IPA^(key):/ˈa.u̯eː/,[ˈäu̯eː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA^(key):/ˈa.ve/,[ˈäːve]
• See pronunciation note at the headword's page.

have

1. Alternative spelling ofavē(“hail!”)

• Sometimes prescribed over the much more commonavē.

have

1. Alternative form ofhaven(“to have”)

Borrowed fromOld Norseháfr(“net”), fromProto-Germanic*hēb-,*hēf-, an ablaut form of*hafjaną(“to have; take; catch”). Related to English dialectalhaaf(“a pock-net”).

• Audio(Jersey):

  (file)

have f (pluralhaves)

1. (Jersey)shrimpnet

• hava(a and split infinitives)
• ha

FromOld Norsehafa, fromProto-Germanic*habjaną(“to have”), durative ofProto-Germanic*habjaną(“to lift, take up”), fromProto-Indo-European*keh₂p-(“to take, seize, catch”).

have (present tensehev,past tensehavde,past participlehavt,passive infinitivehavast,present participlehavande,imperativehav)

1. (pre-2012)alternative form ofha

Likelyunadapted borrowing fromDanishhave.

have c

1. (obsolete Hallanddialect)Synonym ofhage(“pasture”)

• Haverdal(a town)

have

1. third-personsingularpresentindicative ofavere

have

1. Alternative form ofha
   • 1867, “THE BRIDE'S PORTION”, inSONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page102:

     A portion ich gae her, was (it's now ichhave ee-tolth)

     The portion I gave her was (it's now Ihave told)

   • 1867, “CASTEALE CUDDE'S LAMENTATION”, inSONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page102:

     Neen chickèshave hea ee-left vatherless.

     Nine chickenshas he left fatherless.

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor,A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published1867,page102