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shove off meaning and examples

2025-09-29

Meaning

  • Shove off is a phrasal verb that means:

    1. (Literal) To push a boat away from the shore so it starts moving on water.
    2. (Informal, rude) To tell someone to go away, similar to saying “get lost” or “leave me alone.”

Grammar and Usage

  • Verb type: Phrasal verb (intransitive when used for leaving, transitive when pushing something away).

  • Structures:

    • Shove off! (imperative, rude command)
    • They shoved off from the riverbank at dawn. (literal use)
    • He told me to shove off when I asked too many questions. (figurative/rude use)

Common Phrases

  • Shove off the dock – to push a boat away from a dock.
  • Time to shove off – time to leave.
  • Told him to shove off – told someone to go away rudely.

Collocations

  • Common verbs + shove off: tell someone to shove off, decide to shove off.
  • Prepositions: shove off from (the bank, the dock, the shore).
  • Time expressions: early in the morning, right away, immediately.

Examples

  1. The sailors shoved off from the harbor at sunrise.
  2. It’s getting late—we’d better shove off now.
  3. He told the reporters to shove off and leave him alone.
  4. After lunch, we shoved off for the long drive home.
  5. The fisherman shoved off in his small boat.
  6. I was getting annoyed, so I told him to shove off.
  7. They shoved off without even saying goodbye.
  • Literal: push away, set sail, cast off.
  • Figurative (rude): get lost, buzz off, go away, beat it.

Antonym

  • Stay, remain, hang around, stick around.