Had

[had] /hæd/

verb
1.
simple past tense and past participle of .
[hav; unstressed huh v, uh v; for 26 usually haf] /hæv; unstressed həv, əv; for 26 usually hæf/
verb (used with object), present singular 1st person have, 2nd have or (Archaic) hast, 3rd has or (Archaic) hath, present plural have; past singular 1st person had, 2nd had or (Archaic) hadst or haddest, 3rd had, past plural had; past participle had; present participle having.
1.
to possess; own; hold for use; contain:
He has property. The work has an index.
2.
to hold, possess, or accept in some relation, as of kindred or relative position:
He wanted to marry her, but she wouldn’t have him.
3.
to get, receive, or take:
to have a part in a play; to have news.
4.
to experience, undergo, or endure, as joy or pain:
Have a good time. He had a heart attack last year.
5.
to hold in mind, sight, etc.:
to have doubts.
6.
to cause to, as by command or invitation:
Have him come here at five.
7.
to be related to or be in a certain relation to:
She has three cousins. He has a kind boss.
8.
to show or exhibit in action or words:
She had the crust to refuse my invitation.
9.
to be identified or distinguished by; possess the characteristic of:
He has a mole on his left cheek. This wood has a silky texture.
10.
to engage in or carry on:
to have a talk; to have a fight.
11.
to partake of; eat or drink:
He had cake and coffee for dessert.
12.
to permit or allow:
I will not have any talking during the concert.
13.
to assert, maintain, or represent as being:
Rumor has it that she’s going to be married.
14.
to know, understand, or be skilled in:
to have neither Latin nor Greek.
15.
to beget or give birth to:
to have a baby.
16.
to hold an advantage over:
He has you there.
17.
to outwit, deceive, or cheat:
We realized we’d been had by an expert con artist.
18.
to control or possess through bribery; bribe.
19.
to gain possession of:
There is none to be had at that price.
20.
to hold or put in a certain position or situation:
The problem had me stumped. They had him where they wanted him.
21.
to exercise, display, or make use of:
Have pity on him.
22.
to invite or cause to be present as a companion or guest:
We had Evelyn and Everett over for dinner. He has his bodyguard with him at all times.
23.
to engage in sexual intercourse with.
verb (used without object), present singular 1st person have, 2nd have or (Archaic) hast, 3rd has or (Archaic) hath, present plural have; past singular 1st person had, 2nd had or (Archaic) hadst or haddest, 3rd had, past plural had; past participle had; present participle having.
24.
to be in possession of money or wealth:
There are some who have and some who have not.
auxiliary verb, present singular 1st person have, 2nd have or (Archaic) hast, 3rd has or (Archaic) hath, present plural have; past singular 1st person had, 2nd had or (Archaic) hadst or haddest, 3rd had, past plural had; past participle had; present participle having.
25.
(used with a past participle to form perfect tenses):
She has gone. It would have been an enjoyable party if he hadn’t felt downcast.
26.
to be required, compelled, or under obligation (followed by infinitival to, with or without a main verb):
I have to leave now. I didn’t want to study, but I had to.
noun
27.
Usually, haves. an individual or group that has wealth, social position, or other material benefits (contrasted with ).
Verb phrases
28.
have at, to go at vigorously; attack:
First he decided to have at his correspondence.
Idioms
29.
had better / best, ought to:
You’d better go now, it’s late.
30.
had rather. (def 8).
31.
have done, to cease; finish:
It seemed that they would never have done with their struggle.
32.
have had it,

33.
have it coming, to merit or deserve:
When they lost their fortune, everyone said that they had it coming.
34.
have it in / out for, to plan or wish to do something unpleasant to; hold a grudge against:
She has it in for intelligent students who fail to use their abilities.
35.
have it out, to come to an understanding or decision through discussion or combat:
We’ve been in disagreement about this for a long time, and I think we should have it out, once and for all.
36.
have on,

37.
have to do with,

38.
to have and to hold, to possess legally; have permanent possession of:
The house, with the mortgage finally paid, was at last their own to have and to hold.
/hæd/
verb
1.
the past tense and past participle of have
/hæv/
verb (mainly transitive) has, having, had
1.
to be in material possession of; own: he has two cars
2.
to possess as a characteristic quality or attribute: he has dark hair
3.
to receive, take, or obtain: she had a present from him, have a look
4.
to hold or entertain in the mind: to have an idea
5.
to possess a knowledge or understanding of: I have no German
6.
to experience or undergo: to have a shock
7.
to be infected with or suffer from: to have a cold
8.
to gain control of or advantage over: you have me on that point
9.
(usually passive) (slang) to cheat or outwit: he was had by that dishonest salesman
10.
(foll by on) to exhibit (mercy, compassion, etc, towards): have mercy on us, Lord
11.
to engage or take part in: to have a conversation
12.
to arrange, carry out, or hold: to have a party
13.
to cause, compel, or require to (be, do, or be done): have my shoes mended
14.
(takes an infinitive with to) used as an auxiliary to express compulsion or necessity: I had to run quickly to escape him
15.
to eat, drink, or partake of: to have a good meal
16.
(slang) to have sexual intercourse with: he had her on the sofa
17.
(used with a negative) to tolerate or allow: I won’t have all this noise
18.
to declare, state, or assert: rumour has it that they will marry
19.
to put or place: I’ll have the sofa in this room
20.
to receive as a guest: to have three people to stay
21.
to beget or bear (offspring): she had three children
22.
(takes a past participle) used as an auxiliary to form compound tenses expressing completed action: I have gone, I shall have gone, I would have gone, I had gone
23.
had better, had best, ought to: used to express compulsion, obligation, etc: you had better go
24.
had rather, had sooner, to consider or find preferable that: I had rather you left at once
25.
have done, See done (sense 3)
26.
(informal) have had it

27.
have it, to win a victory
28.
(Brit, slang) have it away, have it off, to have sexual intercourse
29.
(informal) have it coming, to be about to receive or to merit punishment or retribution
30.
(informal) have it in for, to wish or intend harm towards
31.
have it so good, to have so many benefits, esp material benefits
32.
have to do with

33.
(informal) I have it, I know the answer
34.
(slang) let someone have it, to launch or deliver an attack on, esp to discharge a firearm at someone
35.
(foll by of) (informal) not having any, refusing to take part or be involved (in)
noun
36.
(usually pl) a person or group of people in possession of wealth, security, etc: the haves and the have-nots
v.

past tense and past participle of have (q.v.). You never had it so good (1946) was said to be the stock answer to any complaints about U.S. Army life.
v.

Old English habban “to own, possess; be subject to, experience,” from Proto-Germanic *haben- (cf. Old Norse hafa, Old Saxon hebbjan, Old Frisian habba, German haben, Gothic haban “to have”), from PIE *kap- “to grasp” (see capable). Not related to Latin habere, despite similarity in form and sense; the Latin cognate is capere “seize.” Old English second person singular present hæfst, third person singular present hæfð became Middle English hast, hath, while Old English -bb- became -v- in have. The past participle had developed from Old English gehæfd.

Sense of “possess, have at one’s disposal” (I have a book) is a shift from older languages, where the thing possessed was made the subject and the possessor took the dative case (e.g. Latin est mihi liber “I have a book,” literally “there is to me a book”). Used as an auxiliary in Old English, too (especially to form present perfect tense); the word has taken on more functions over time; Modern English he had better would have been Old English him (dative) wære betere. To have to for “must” (1570s) is from sense of “possess as a duty or thing to be done” (Old English). Phrase have a nice day as a salutation after a commercial transaction attested by 1970, American English. Phrase have (noun), will (verb) is from 1954, originally from comedian Bob Hope, in the form Have tux, will travel; Hope described this as typical of vaudevillians’ ads in “Variety,” indicating a willingness to perform anywhere, any time.

verb

Related Terms

be had

, also see under
have

, also see entries beginning with
get
had
, and
keep
.