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heave to

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heave to

to stop a sailing ship by facing it directly into the wind. The captain gave the order to heave to. The ship hove to and everyone had a swim.

See also: heave

heave to

v.

To steer a sailing ship directly into the wind so that it stops sailing, especially in order to face a storm or to make repairs: We hove to so that we could change the torn sail.

See also: heave