Meanings
alternative -a · alternative of
- cliticHave (in its sense marking the perfect or retrospective aspect).
Santorum, in a comment regarding Senator John McCain's repudiation of torture, stated, "He doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they've broken they become cooperative" (Summers 2011).
2015 November 30, Shane O'Mara, Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 12 - cliticHave (in its other uses).
"...Where's the ladies' in this joint? I've to powder me nose."
1996, Deirdre Purcell, Roses After Rain, page 3351 more example
Do n’t tell me you ‘have n’t got time,’ / That other things claim your attention; / There ’s not the least reason or rhyme / In the wisest excuse you can mention: / Do n’t tell me about ‘other fish,’ / Your duty is done when you buy ’em; / And you never will relish the dish, / Unless you ’ve a woman to ‘fry ’em.’
1845 March, “Editor’s Table”, in The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XXV, New York, N.Y.: […] John Allen, […], page 267, columns 1–2
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*kap-
- Proto-Germanic*habjaną
- Proto-West Germanic*habbjan
- Old Englishhabban
- Middle Englishhaven
- Englishhave
- English've
Contraction of have.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
've. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/'ve
“'ve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/'ve. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “'ve,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/'ve.
Source: 've on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.