shove

1 of 2

verb

ˈshəv 

shoved; shoving

transitive verb

1

: to push along

2

: to push or put in a rough, careless, or hasty manner : thrust

3

: to force by other than physical means : compel

shove a bill through the legislature

intransitive verb

1

: to move by forcing a way

bargain hunters shoving up to the counter

2

a

: to move something by exerting force

b

: leave

—usually used with off

shoved off for home

shover noun

shove

2 of 2

noun

: an act or instance of shoving : a forcible push

Synonyms

Verb

• drive
• propel
• push
• thrust

Examples of shove in a Sentence

Verb

He shoved the door until it finally opened.

A large man shoved me out of the way.

She shoved her plate aside.

He shoved me into the pool.

A group of security guards shoved through the crowd.

The children were pushing and shoving to see the clowns.

Noun

He gave the door a shove, and it opened.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Technicals were assessed to Hunter and to Indiana’s Myles Turner, who shoved Hunter after Hunter pushed Mathurin to the ground. —Joe Vardon, New York Times, 12 May 2025

Ripley shoved Giulia into a diving Roxanne, opening the door for Rhea to hit a Riptide on Giulia for the win. —Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025

Noun

There was a shove a week before that, and the victim hit the side of a moving R train and survived. —Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 7 Jan. 2025

The ever-protective Joel rushes in to give this yahoo a hard shove. —Noel Murray, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English scūfan to thrust away; akin to Old High German scioban to push and probably to Lithuanian skubti to hurry

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing shove

• force/ram/shove (something) down someone's throat
• push comes to shove
• shove it
• shove off
• shove over
• shove up

Rhymes for shove

• dove
• glove
• love
• of
• above
• foxglove
• hereof
• thereof
• whereof
• hereinabove

Kids Definition

shove

1 of 2 verb

ˈshəv 

shoved; shoving

1

: to push with steady force

2

: to push along or away carelessly or rudely

shoved her out of the way

3

: depart sense 1

—usually used with off

time to shove off for home

shover noun

shove

2 of 2 noun

: an act or instance of shoving