"push and shove" meaning in English

See push and shove in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} push and shove (uncountable)
  1. Inconsiderate and unregulated behaviour. Tags: uncountable Synonyms: hurlyburly, rough-and-tumble
    Sense id: en-push_and_shove-en-noun-PLRuf4ub Categories (other): English coordinated pairs, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 42 36 22 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 79 13 8 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 78 13 9 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 82 11 7 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 85 9 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 73 15 12 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 68 20 11 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 71 18 11 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 69 18 13

Verb

Forms: pushes and shoves [present, singular, third-person], pushing and shoving [participle, present], pushed and shoved [participle, past], pushed and shoved [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|push<> and shove<>}} push and shove (third-person singular simple present pushes and shoves, present participle pushing and shoving, simple past and past participle pushed and shoved)
  1. (informal) To use one's strength to force oneself through a crowded area. Tags: informal Translations (force oneself through a crowded area): 擁擠 /拥挤 (yōngjǐ) (Chinese Mandarin), 左推右搡 (zuǒtuīyòusǎng) (Chinese Mandarin), töniä (Finnish), tyrkkiä (Finnish), jouer des coudes (French), lökdösődik (Hungarian)
    Sense id: en-push_and_shove-en-verb-rA~72cOh Categories (other): English coordinated pairs Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 42 36 22 Disambiguation of 'force oneself through a crowded area': 98 2
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see push, shove.
    Sense id: en-push_and_shove-en-verb-ez9YBtwV Categories (other): English coordinated pairs Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 42 36 22

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pushes and shoves",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pushing and shoving",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pushed and shoved",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pushed and shoved",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      },
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      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "42 36 22",
          "kind": "other",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
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      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              3,
              20
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          ],
          "text": "He pushed and shoved his way to the stage to steal the microphone from the singer.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              168,
              182
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1880, John Charles Ready Colomb, The Defence of Great and Greater Britain, Edward Stanford, pages 190–191:",
          "text": "No student of modern warfare can observe the increasing facilities of transporting live animals in large numbers over long sea distances—which have been created by the push and shove rivalry of peaceful commercial competition—without reflecting how means so afforded can be turned to account in war.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              7,
              21
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2012 December 3, Max Lucado, Life to the Full, Thomas Nelson, page 16:",
          "text": "In the push and shove of this day, enter my life and help me know that you are coming to meet me at every point of need.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              56
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2014 February, Charles Wallman, A Life of Leathergy, Lulu.com, page 20:",
          "text": "Gloria had always been more suited to the push and shove of the business world.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 September 5, Carl Dourish, Time In Time, Past Life Regression, Lulu.com, unpaged",
          "text": "Mature souls tend to gravitate to a calm environment, they prefer the relative tranquillity of the suburbs to the push and shove of a large City."
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              65,
              79
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2019, Jonathan Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, Yale University Press, page 28:",
          "text": "The distinctive noises and smells of each street, along with the push and shove of traders, pilgrims, clerics and soldiers, made for an energised community that impressed contemporary tourists",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To use one's strength to force oneself through a crowded area."
      ],
      "id": "en-push_and_shove-en-verb-rA~72cOh",
      "links": [
        [
          "strength",
          "strength"
        ],
        [
          "force",
          "force"
        ],
        [
          "crowded",
          "crowded"
        ],
        [
          "area",
          "area"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) To use one's strength to force oneself through a crowded area."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "yōngjǐ",
          "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
          "word": "擁擠 /拥挤"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "zuǒtuīyòusǎng",
          "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
          "word": "左推右搡"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
          "word": "töniä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
          "word": "tyrkkiä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
          "word": "jouer des coudes"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
          "word": "lökdösődik"
        }
      ]
    },
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      "categories": [
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          "_dis": "42 36 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English coordinated pairs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see push, shove."
      ],
      "id": "en-push_and_shove-en-verb-ez9YBtwV",
      "links": [
        [
          "push",
          "push#English"
        ],
        [
          "shove",
          "shove#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "push and shove"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
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      "expansion": "push and shove (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
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          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "68 20 11",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "71 18 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "69 18 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Inconsiderate and unregulated behaviour."
      ],
      "id": "en-push_and_shove-en-noun-PLRuf4ub",
      "links": [
        [
          "Inconsiderate",
          "inconsiderate"
        ],
        [
          "unregulated",
          "unregulated"
        ],
        [
          "behaviour",
          "behaviour"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hurlyburly"
        },
        {
          "word": "rough-and-tumble"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "push and shove"
}
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    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations"
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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pushes and shoves",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pushing and shoving",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
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    },
    {
      "form": "pushed and shoved",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
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      "form": "pushed and shoved",
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      "name": "en-verb"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
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        "English terms with quotations",
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        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
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              3,
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              168,
              182
            ]
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          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              7,
              21
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2012 December 3, Max Lucado, Life to the Full, Thomas Nelson, page 16:",
          "text": "In the push and shove of this day, enter my life and help me know that you are coming to meet me at every point of need.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              56
            ]
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          "ref": "2014 February, Charles Wallman, A Life of Leathergy, Lulu.com, page 20:",
          "text": "Gloria had always been more suited to the push and shove of the business world.",
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        },
        {
          "ref": "2015 September 5, Carl Dourish, Time In Time, Past Life Regression, Lulu.com, unpaged",
          "text": "Mature souls tend to gravitate to a calm environment, they prefer the relative tranquillity of the suburbs to the push and shove of a large City."
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              65,
              79
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2019, Jonathan Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, Yale University Press, page 28:",
          "text": "The distinctive noises and smells of each street, along with the push and shove of traders, pilgrims, clerics and soldiers, made for an energised community that impressed contemporary tourists",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To use one's strength to force oneself through a crowded area."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "strength",
          "strength"
        ],
        [
          "force",
          "force"
        ],
        [
          "crowded",
          "crowded"
        ],
        [
          "area",
          "area"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) To use one's strength to force oneself through a crowded area."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see push, shove."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "push",
          "push#English"
        ],
        [
          "shove",
          "shove#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "yōngjǐ",
      "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
      "word": "擁擠 /拥挤"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "zuǒtuīyòusǎng",
      "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
      "word": "左推右搡"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
      "word": "töniä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
      "word": "tyrkkiä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
      "word": "jouer des coudes"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "force oneself through a crowded area",
      "word": "lökdösődik"
    }
  ],
  "word": "push and shove"
}

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    "English lemmas",
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    "Terms with French translations",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Inconsiderate and unregulated behaviour."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Inconsiderate",
          "inconsiderate"
        ],
        [
          "unregulated",
          "unregulated"
        ],
        [
          "behaviour",
          "behaviour"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "hurlyburly"
    },
    {
      "word": "rough-and-tumble"
    }
  ],
  "word": "push and shove"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-16 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (d1270d2 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.