heave

Heave is a versatile term used as both a verb and a noun with several related but distinct senses. As a verb, it commonly means to lift, haul, or throw something heavy with effort, often accompanied by a pronounced effort or strain. It can also describe producing or giving forth something by exertion, such as heaving a sigh or heaving a chest with effort.

In nautical usage, heave refers to pulling on a line or rope, or to the act of moving a vessel or its anchor by exertion. Phrases such as heave away or heave in the lead are traditional terms used in rigging and seamanship, the latter describing casting a weighted line to measure depth.

The noun form of heave can denote the act of lifting or the resulting movement. It also describes a vertical movement, as in the heave of the sea, where waves cause a ship to rise and fall, or in geology and civil engineering, where frost heave or other processes push soil or pavement upward.

Medicinal and physiological contexts use the term in related ways. A precordial heave is a palpable, vigorous inward lift of the chest wall felt during a physical examination, often indicating cardiac enlargement or hypertrophy. The verb heave can also mean to vomit or retch, as in 'to heave one's stomach,' a sense found in common speech.

Frost heave, a well-known environmental process, occurs when freezing soil causes upward soil movement due to ice lens formation, sometimes damaging sidewalks and foundations. These senses collectively reflect the core idea of heave: a strenuous lifting, lifting-related movement, or a consequential outward motion.