heave to

verb

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

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbheave to (third-person singular simple present heaves to, present participle heaving to, simple past heaved to or hove to, past participle heaved to or hove to or hoven to)

present singular third person heaves to · participle present heaving to · past heaved to · past hove to · participle past heaved to · participle past hove to · participle past hoven to

  1. intransitivenauticalTo cause (one's vessel) to become dead in the water by pointing the bows directly towards the wind.
  2. intransitivenauticalTo come to a halt.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
lay to

Translations

French se mettre à la cape
  • se mettre à la capeto point towards the wind
Portuguese afilar, filar
  • afilarto point towards the wind
  • filarto point towards the wind
Cite this entry
APA

heave to. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heave%20to

MLA

“heave to.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heave%20to. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heave to,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heave%20to.

Source: heave to on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.