To lift or throw something with great effort, or to make a deep sighing sound.
From Old English hebban, related to Old Saxon hebbian and Old Norse hefja. The proto-Germanic root *haban meant 'to have' or 'to lift,' ultimately from Indo-European *kap- meaning 'to grasp.'
Sailors call the act of throwing anchors and hauling ropes 'heaving,' and the way ships move up and down in waves is called 'heaving' too—the same word describes both human effort and nature's power.
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