verb / noun

have

HUV/həv/

To possess something as part of one's resources or constitution.

The gardener has a basket of vegetables while the others stand empty-handed.

A gardener holds a basket of vegetables close while other empty-handed people look on, showing the gardener possesses them.

Etymology

Old English habban already meant owning or possessing. The familiar “I have a book” construction makes the owner the grammatical subject, unlike the older pattern “there is a book to me.”

In context

David Steindl-Rast1:35

who have everything that it would take to be happy,

Want to be happy? Be grateful

C.K. Williams0:09

I thought I would read poems I have that relate to the subject

Poetry of youth and age

More examples

Do you have enough money for the bus?
She had a natural talent for music.
The gap between the haves and the have-nots keeps growing.

Forms

have · has · had · having · haves

Similar words

own: Emphasizes ownership rather than temporary possession or personal features.
possess: More formal; emphasizes holding something or having a quality.
contain: Describes what is inside something, rather than what it owns.