Meaning of having in English | Powered by Free Dictionary API

having

/ˈhævɪŋ/

Phonetics

/ˈhævɪŋ/

verb

To possess, own.
Example: I have a house and a car.
To hold, as something at someone's disposal.
Example: Do you have the key? (not necessarily one's own key)
Used to state the existence or presence of someone in a specified relationship with the subject.
Example: I have a really mean boss.
To partake of (a particular substance, especially food or drink, or action or activity).
Example: Can I have a look at that?
To be scheduled to attend, undertake or participate in.
Example: Fred won't be able to come to the party; he has a meeting that day.
To experience, go through, undergo.
Example: He had surgery on his hip yesterday.
To be afflicted with, suffer from.
Example: He had a cold last week.
(auxiliary verb, taking a past participle) Used in forming the perfect aspect.
Example: I had already eaten.
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.)
Example: They haven't eaten dinner yet, have they?
(auxiliary verb, taking a to-infinitive) See have to.
Example: I have to go.
To give birth to.
Example: My mother had me when she was 25.
To engage in sexual intercourse with.
Example: He's always bragging about how many women he's had.
To accept as a romantic partner.
Example: Despite my protestations of love, she would not have me.
(transitive with bare infinitive) To cause to, by a command, request or invitation.
Example: They had me feed their dog while they were out of town.
(transitive with adjective or adjective-phrase complement) To cause to be.
Example: He had him arrested for trespassing.
(transitive with bare infinitive) To be affected by an occurrence. (Used in supplying a topic that is not a verb argument.)
Example: I've had three people today tell me my hair looks nice.
(transitive with adjective or adjective-phrase complement) To depict as being.
Example: Their stories differed; he said he'd been at work when the incident occurred, but her statement had him at home that entire evening.
To defeat in a fight; take.
Example: I could have him!
(obsolete outside Ireland) To be able to speak (a language).
Example: I have no German.
To feel or be (especially painfully) aware of.
Example: Dan certainly has arms today, probably from scraping paint off four columns the day before.
To trick, to deceive.
Example: You had me alright! I never would have thought that was just a joke.
(often with present participle) To allow; to tolerate.
Example: I asked my dad if I could go to the concert this Thursday, but he wouldn't have it since it's a school night.
(often used in the negative) To believe, buy, be taken in by.
Example: I made up an excuse as to why I was out so late, but my wife wasn't having any of it.
To host someone; to take in as a guest.
Example: Thank you for having me!
To get a reading, measurement, or result from an instrument or calculation.
Example: I have two contacts on my scope.
(of a jury) To consider a court proceeding that has been completed; to begin deliberations on a case.
Example: We'll schedule closing arguments for Thursday, and the jury will have the case by that afternoon.
To make an observation of (a bird species).

noun

The act of possessing; ownership.
Something owned; possession; goods; estate.
A person's behaviour.
(chiefly in the plural) Good manners.

adjective

Grasping; greedy.