Definitions

heaving

[hee-ving] / ˈhi vɪŋ /

ADJECTIVE

billowy

Synonyms

WEAK

bouncing bouncy bulgy distended ebbing and flowing puffy rippled rippling rising rising and falling rolling swelling swirling swollen undulating waving wavy

NOUN

cast

Synonyms

STRONGEST

casting

STRONG

ejection expulsion fling flinging heave hurl hurling launching lob lobbing pitch pitching projection propulsion shooting sling slinging thrust thrusting toss tossing

Antonyms

WEAK

catch keeping retention

NOUN

panting

Synonyms

STRONG

gasping respiring

WEAK

breathless short-winded

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Here, at a heaving Murrayfield stuffed with the expectant French, they found their complete self.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026

And it wasn’t lost on Rove that the spindly, excitable man narrating that story for them in a thick Hungarian accent “was once a 16-year-old picking up paving blocks and heaving them at Soviet tanks.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

Shopping areas, including the market of Addisu Gebeya, were heaving in Addis Ababa on New Year's Eve, despite the rain - as people rushed to prepare for the celebrations.

From BBC • Sep. 11, 2025

But last June he was rubber-legged and dry heaving in 95-degree heat when he bowed out of the 37-mile Rachel Carson Trail Challenge outside Pittsburgh.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 27, 2025

I had a terrible vision then of Mrs. DiAngelo angrily ripping up the butterfly bush and the flowers I’d planted and heaving them all over the fence.

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings

heaving

Example Sentences

Related Words