shove

UK: /ˈʃʌv/ US: /ʃʌv/ ,(shuv; Textile shōv)

Inflections of 'shove' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

shoves

v 3rd person singular

shoving

v pres p

shoved

v past

shoved

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

shove¹ /ʃʌv/   v., shoved, shov•ing, n. 
v. 

1. to push along from behind, often carelessly:
   [~ + object] He shoved the chair into the room.
2. to push roughly or rudely;
   jostle: [no object]
   The huge crowd shoved forward into the stadium.
   [~ + object]
   The police shoved him against a wall.
3. shove off, [no object] to go away;
   depart:
   It was time for us to shove off.

n. [countable]

4. an act or instance of shoving:
   She gave him a shove.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

shove¹  (shuv), v., shoved, shov•ing, n. 
v.t. 

1. to move along by force from behind;
   push.
2. to push roughly or rudely;
   jostle.
3. Slang Terms (often vulgar). to go to hell with:
   Voters are telling Congress to shove its new tax plan.

v.i. 

4. to push.
5. Slang Terms shove or stick it, Slang (often vulgar). (used to express contempt or belligerence):
   I told them to take the job and shove it.
6. Slang Terms shove or stick it up your or one's ass, Slang (vulgar). go to hell: a term of contempt, abuse, disagreement, or the like.
7. shove off:
   • to push a boat from the shore.
   • Informal Terms to go away;
     depart:
     I think I'll be shoving off now.

n. 

8. an act or instance of shoving.
9. when or if push comes to shove. See push (def. 35).

• bef. 900; (verb, verbal) Middle English schouven, Old English scūfan; cognate with Dutch schuiven, obsolete German schauben, Old Norse skūfa; akin to Gothic -skiuban; (noun, nominal) Middle English scou, derivative of the verb, verbal

shov′er, n. 

shove²  (shōv), n. 

1. Textiles boon³.

• apparently variant of shive²

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

shove / ʃʌv/ verb

1. to give a thrust or push to (a person or thing)
2. (transitive) to give a violent push to; jostle
3. (intransitive) to push one's way roughly
4. (transitive) to put (something) somewhere, esp hurriedly or carelessly: shove it in the bin

noun

1. the act or an instance of shoving

Etymology: Old English scūfan; related to Old Norse skūfa to push, Gothic afskiuban to push away, Old High German skioban to shove

ˈshover noun