What does "have" mean?
A wealthy or privileged person.
Have
/həv/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A wealthy or privileged person.
- Grammar: have is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: take, absorb, accept, accept.
- Useful contrasts: avoid, bemoaning, evade.
- Usage evidence: I don't know if I have the time.
How to use "have"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "have" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "have" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "have" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "have" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "have" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "take" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "have", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A wealthy or privileged person. contrastive, idiomatic, usually
"A good credit rating can mean the difference between being a have or a have not."
- 2 A fraud or deception; something misleading. Australia, New-Zealand, informal
"They advertise it as a great deal, but I think it's a bit of a have."
- 3 a person who possesses great material wealth wordnet
- 4 One who has some (contextually specified) thing. idiomatic, uncommon
"To find out whether you are a have or a have not, did you understand the malo and Brett sentence a few lines back? If no, this doesn't make any difference to me, as you are the proud possessor of something the 'haves' haven't got. You know exactly what you like and why you like it. The 'haves' pretend to like and understand everything, which by the way is impossible. They deliberate over choosing a bottle in the shop for hours, ..."
Verb
- 1 To possess, own. transitive
"I have a house and a car."
- 2 cause to be born wordnet
- 3 To hold, as something at someone's disposal. transitive
"Look what I have here—a frog I found on the street!"
- 4 suffer from; be ill with wordnet
- 5 To include as a part, ingredient, or feature. transitive
"The stove has a handle. The shirt has sleeves."
Show 46 more definitions
- 6 undergo (as of injuries and illnesses) wordnet
- 7 Used to state the existence or presence of someone in a specified relationship with the subject. transitive
"I have two sisters."
- 8 cause to move; cause to be in a certain position or condition wordnet
- 9 To consume or use up (a particular substance or resource, especially food or drink). transitive
"I have breakfast at six o'clock."
- 10 undergo wordnet
- 11 To undertake or perform (an action or activity). transitive
"Can I have a look at that?"
- 12 cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner wordnet
- 13 To be scheduled to attend, undertake or participate in. transitive
"What class do you have right now? I have English."
- 14 serve oneself to, or consume regularly wordnet
- 15 To experience, go through, undergo. transitive
"We had a hard year last year, with the locust swarms and all that."
- 16 have sex with; archaic use wordnet
- 17 To be afflicted with, suffer from. transitive
"He had a cold last week."
- 18 organize or be responsible for wordnet
- 19 Used in forming the perfect aspect. auxiliary, with-past-participle
"I have already eaten today."
- 20 go through (mental or physical states or experiences) wordnet
- 21 Used as an interrogative verb before a pronoun to form a tag question, echoing a previous use of 'have' as an auxiliary verb or, in certain cases, main verb. (For further discussion, see the appendix English tag questions.)
"They haven’t eaten dinner yet, have they?"
- 22 have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense wordnet
- 23 See have to. auxiliary, with-infinitive, with-to
"I have to go."
- 24 have ownership or possession of wordnet
- 25 To give birth to. transitive
"The couple always wanted to have children."
- 26 get something; come into possession of wordnet
- 27 To obtain. informal, passive, usually
"The substance you describe can't be had at any price."
- 28 receive willingly something given or offered wordnet
- 29 To engage in sexual intercourse with. transitive
"He’s always bragging about how many women he’s had."
- 30 achieve a point or goal wordnet
- 31 To accept as a romantic partner. transitive
"Despite my protestations of love, she would not have me."
- 32 have a personal or business relationship with someone wordnet
- 33 To cause to, by a command, request or invitation. transitive, with-infinitive
"They had me feed their dog while they were out of town."
- 34 have as a feature wordnet
- 35 To cause to be. transitive, with-adjective
"He had him arrested for trespassing."
- 36 be confronted with wordnet
- 37 To be affected by an occurrence. (Used in supplying a topic that is a small clause.) transitive, with-infinitive
"The hospital had several patients contract pneumonia last week."
- 38 To depict as being. transitive, with-adjective
"Their stories differed; he said he’d been at work when the incident occurred, but her statement had him at home that entire evening."
- 39 To defeat in a fight; take. British, slang, transitive
"I could have him!"
- 40 To inflict punishment or retribution on. British, slang, transitive
"When we did a rerecorded version for Top of the Pops, the Musicians' Union bloke said, "If I think you're making strings sounds out of a synthesiser, I'm going to have you. Video Killed the Radio Star is putting musicians out of business.""
- 41 To be able to speak (a language). transitive
"I have no German."
- 42 To feel or be (especially painfully) aware of. transitive
"Dan certainly has arms today, probably from scraping paint off four columns the day before."
- 43 To trick, to deceive. informal, often, passive, transitive
"I bought a laptop online but it never arrived. I think I've been had!"
- 44 To allow; to tolerate. transitive
"The child screamed incessantly for his mother to buy him a toy, but she wasn't having any of it."
- 45 To believe, buy, be taken in by. often, transitive
"I made up an excuse as to why I was out so late, but my wife wasn't having any of it."
- 46 To host someone; to take in as a guest. transitive
"Thank you for having me!"
- 47 To get a reading, measurement, or result from an instrument or calculation. transitive
"What do you have for problem two?"
- 48 To consider a court proceeding that has been completed; to begin deliberations on a case. transitive
"We’ll schedule closing arguments for Thursday, and the jury will have the case by that afternoon."
- 49 To make an observation of (a bird species). transitive
"For some reason, "I had a Freckled Duck today" never seems to work as a pick-up line."
- 50 To capture or actively hold someone's attention or interest. transitive
"1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure Thurs nite I went to see Lou Reed […] and Lou, oh God, he completely had me. I was lost at the foot of a god."
- 51 To grasp the meaning of; comprehend. transitive
"Ah! Now I have it!"
Example
"I don't know if I have the time."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "have"?
Common synonyms include: take, absorb, accept, accept, acquire, admit.
How do you use "have" in a sentence?
I don't know if I have the time.
How do you pronounce "have"?
Pronounced /həv/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English haven, from Old English habban (“to have”), from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to have”), durative of *habjaną (“to lift, take up”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pyéti, present tense of *kap- (“to take, seize, catch”). Related to heave. Since there is no common Indo-European root for a transitive possessive verb have (notice that Latin habeō is not etymologically related to English have), Proto-Indo-European probably lacked the have structure. Instead, the third person forms of be were used, with the possessor in dative case, compare Latin mihi est / sunt, literally to me is / are. Cognates Cognate with Scots hae (“to have”), North Frisian haa, heewe (“to have”), Saterland Frisian häbe, hääbe (“to have”), West Frisian hawwe (“to have”), Afrikaans hê (“to have”), Alemannic German haa, heen, hoh, hä, häbä, hè (“to have”), Bavarian hobm, hobn, hoom, håbn (“to have”), Cimbrian haban, hen, håm (“to have”), Dutch, Low German hebben (“to have”), German haben (“to have”), Limburgish haane, höbbe (“to have”), Luxembourgish hunn (“to have”), Mòcheno hom (“to have”), Vilamovian hon (“to have”), Yiddish האָבן (hobn, “to have”), Danish have (“to have”), Elfdalian åvå (“to have”), Faroese hava (“to have”), Icelandic hafa (“to have”), Norwegian Bokmål ha (“to have”), Norwegian Nynorsk ha, hava, have, hå (“to have”), Swedish ha, hafva, hava (“to have”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban, “to have”), Albanian kap (“to grab, catch, grip”), Latin capiō (“take”, verb), Russian хапать (xapatʹ, “to seize”).
Etymology 2
From have on (“to deceive”).