have
verb (has; past and past part. had) 1 possess, own, or hold. 2 experience; undergo: have difficulty. 3 be able to make use of. 4 (have to) be obliged to; must. 5 perform the action indicated by the noun specified: he had a look round. 6 demonstrate (a personal attribute). 7 suffer from (an illness or disability). 8 cause to be in a particular state. 9 cause to be done for one by someone else. place, hold, or keep in a particular position. be the recipient or host of. eat or drink. (not have) refuse to tolerate. (be had) informal be cheated or deceived. auxiliary verb used with a past participle to form the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect tenses, and the conditional mood. noun (usu. in phrase the haves and the have-nots) informal people with plenty of money. PHRASES have had it informal 1 be beyond repair or revival. 2 be unable to tolerate any longer. have (got) it in for informal behave in a hostile way towards. have it out informal attempt to resolve a dispute by confrontation. have on Brit. informal try to make (someone) believe something untrue, especially as a joke. have up Brit. informal bring before a court to answer for an alleged offence. ORIGIN Old English.
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