to own or possess something
I have two brothers and a sister.
They have a big garden behind their house.
✦ Old English habban, of Germanic origin, related to German haben.
to experience or be affected by something such as a feeling, state, or illness
I have a terrible headache this morning.
She has a cold and can't come today.
to eat or drink something
Let's have lunch at the new café.
She always has oatmeal for breakfast.
to arrange, hold, or take part in an activity or event
We will have a meeting at 3 p.m.
The city had a big parade last weekend.
to cause or persuade someone to do something
The teacher had the students rewrite their essays.
I'll have the mechanic check the brakes.
to act in a polite or socially acceptable way
“Please behave while we are at the museum,” the teacher whispered to her class.
The puppy will behave if you give it a treat.
✦ From Middle English behaven, from be- + have in the sense of ‘to hold oneself’.
of a thing or substance: to act or operate in a particular way
My old laptop starts to behave strangely when it overheats.
Scientists study how liquids behave at very low temperatures.
✦ Same origin as primary sense: be- + have, extended to describe the manner in which objects or systems act.
contracted form of 'had not'; used as the negative form of the past tense and past participle of 'have' to form the past perfect tense.
By noon, she hadn't finished her project.
They hadn't seen snow before moving north.
✦ Contraction of 'had' + 'not,' where 'had' derives from Old English 'hæfde,' past tense of 'habban' (to have or hold). Such negative contractions emerged in Middle English speech and writing.
a contraction of "has not", used with he, she, it, or a singular noun to form the negative present perfect tense or to indicate lack of possession.
She hasn't finished her homework yet.
The baby hasn't slept all night.
✦ Contraction of "has not", with "has" being the third-person singular of "have" from Old English "habban", entering common written use in the 17th century.
to act badly or break the rules, especially by not obeying parents or teachers
Don't misbehave in class, or you'll get detention.
The toddler misbehaves every time we leave the room.
✦ From mid-15th century English, combining the prefix mis- (meaning 'badly' or 'wrongly') with behave (to act in a certain way).
