've
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Have (in its sense marking the perfect or retrospective aspect). clitic
"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)."
- 2 Have (in its other uses). clitic
"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.’"
Example
More examples"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)."
Etymology
Contraction of have.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.