Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

heave to

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.90 in modern English

Syllables
heave -to
IPA
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To cause (one's vessel) to become dead in the water by pointing the bows directly towards the wind.

Intransitive verb

verb

To come to a halt.

Intransitive verb

Usage

Inflected Forms

heaves to (present, singular) heaving to (participle, present) heaved to (past) hove to (past) heaved to (participle, past) hove to (participle, past) hoven to (participle, past)

Phrases

lie to

Frequently Paired Words

lie to

Questions

What does heave to mean?
To cause (one's vessel) to become dead in the water by pointing the bows directly towards the wind.

How to pronounce heave to

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “heave to”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “heave to”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “heave to” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.