How to Use shove in a Sentence

shove

1 of 2 verb
  • A large man shoved me out of the way.
  • He shoved me into the pool.
  • The children were pushing and shoving to see the clowns.
  • She shoved her plate aside.
  • A group of security guards shoved through the crowd.
  • He shoved the door until it finally opened.
  • And where was this knife shoved?
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Easy to shove, to push, to take.
    — Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
  • So it was just shoved to the side.
    — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
  • When a push comes to shove … trust your gut.
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 10 May 2026
  • Some shoved their way in to get the best spot.
    — Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Clarke shoved O’Connor at least once.
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Jackson shoved the fan back in his seat.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 22 Dec. 2025
  • Stefan grabbed him and shoved him.
    — John J. Lennon, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2025
  • There was shoving and jostling.
    — Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026
  • Might as well shove this thing back in the drawer.
    — Jd Barker, Rolling Stone, 8 May 2026
  • Frances shoves June at Boy Carteret.
    — Alice Burton, Vulture, 30 Mar. 2026
  • The spa is big, open and airy (not shoved down in the basement).
    — Christopher Cameron, Robb Report, 12 Mar. 2024
  • But when push comes to shove, will the Millers be able to start fresh?
    — Joe Otterson, Variety, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Suarez and Lenhart shoved each other.
    — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2025
  • To get to the corn, the deer have to shove their faces between the rollers.
    — Maryn McKenna, WIRED, 19 July 2023
  • When push comes to shove, praising Trump is job one.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Jenkins said one of the deputies shoved a gun in his mouth and fired the weapon.
    — USA TODAY, 19 Mar. 2024
  • Why is it being shoved under the rug like this?
    — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 24 Jan. 2026
  • How does a neuron know when to stop shoving?
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Please don’t try to shove your oversized bag in the bins or force the bins closed.
    — Carin Ryan, Travel + Leisure, 27 June 2026
  • As a result, she was shoved down some alley stairs.
    — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 19 Mar. 2026
  • Our boy runs up, shoves the other player, and gets the ball.
    — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 May 2026
  • But when push comes to shove, people show up for their neighbors.
    — Christine Lennon, Architectural Digest, 11 Feb. 2026
  • On the way, though, the players would push and shove with abandon.
    — Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 28 Jan. 2026

shove

2 of 2 noun
  • He gave the door a shove, and it opened.
  • The appeal is torque, rhythm and its sweet shove.
    — Josh Max, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
  • That's when shoves were exchanged.
    — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 23 June 2026
  • There was an abrupt downshift in her tone, her words a shove.
    — Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2025
  • Sean Longstaff steamed in to give Adams a shove.
    — Beren Cross, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
  • That shot earned a disgusted shove of his club back in the bag.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 16 June 2022
  • Ramsay wouldn’t describe it as a shove.
    — Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 25 Nov. 2025
  • No shove, no commotion, no clue.
    — Rosie Marder, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2026
  • No shove, no commotion, no clue.
    — Rosie Marder, Travel + Leisure, 7 Dec. 2025
  • The boy rolls backwards with the force of the shove, with his legs hanging above his head.
    — Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2026
  • Bednarek took exception and gave Lyles a shove in the back.
    — Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Ritchson can been seen getting up, and the two shove each other.
    — Austin Mullen, NBC news, 24 Mar. 2026
  • On the ground, each shove toward the stage ratcheted up the panic.
    — Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2021
  • The next challenger received a stiff-arm to the helmet and a shove to the turf.
    — Nick Moyle, ExpressNews.com, 9 Nov. 2020
  • Figueroa buried his head and, with his left hand, gave Peterson a soft shove.
    — Michael McCleary, The Indianapolis Star, 29 Mar. 2021
  • This was more of a firm, two-handed shove right between the shoulder blades.
    — Mark Glende, Twin Cities, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Shesterkin, known as a fiery presence, left his crease to give Cotter a shove.
    — Peter Baugh, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Advertisement James then gave the man a hard shove to the chest.
    — Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2024
  • With no one around to give it a shove, scientists had to improvise.
    — Nusmila Lohani, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Mar. 2020
  • The fan had been ejected after the shove Sunday night.
    — Reice Shipley, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The fan had been ejected after the shove Sunday night.
    — Michael Gallagher, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
  • On both sides of the Atlantic, people have sometimes felt the push more like a shove.
    — Raf Casert, ajc, 19 Sep. 2021
  • Ellington didn’t even block the shot, so the reasoning behind the shove is still fuzzy.
    — Dallas News, 18 Oct. 2022
  • Busch took the lead for the final time off a shove by Blaney on a lap 257 restart.
    — Kelly Crandall, USA TODAY, 2 May 2021
  • No more traveling calls, rarely calls for over-the-top or blatant shoves in the back to grab a rebound.
    — Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2026
  • In the heat of fury, a character might deliver a shove, but don’t expect a punch.
    — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2023
  • Nice to see some actual challenging shoves as part of biped testing.
    — Evan Ackerman, IEEE Spectrum, 6 June 2025
  • There’s video evidence of the shove, followed by the clearing of both benches and bullpens.
    — Paul Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, 21 Apr. 2021
  • The paint is chipped; the passenger-side front door sticks a little and sometimes needs a special shove.
    — Bill Donahue, Washington Post, 20 June 2022
  • When the sister doesn’t move, the drive follows up with a much stronger shove to her, forcing her to stumble back a few steps.
    — Bry'onna Mention, Essence, 21 Sep. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shove.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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