having

English

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Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhævɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

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• Hyphenation: hav‧ing

Verb

having

1. present participle of have

Noun

having (plural havings)

1. The act of possessing; ownership.
   • 2002, Ronald Jager, The Development of Bertrand Russell's Philosophy

     He thus came to think of perceiving as a complex of 'havings,' not a complex of 'havings' and 'doings.'

2. Something owned; possession; goods; estate.
   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene 4,^[1]

     Out of my lean and low ability

     I’ll lend you something: my having is not much;

     I’ll make division of my present with you:

     Hold, there’s half my coffer.

   • 1875, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Queen Mary, London: Henry S. King, Act II, Scene 2, p. 80,^[2]

     Your havings wasted by the scythe and spade—

     Your rights and charters hobnail’d into slush—

3. (obsolete) A person's behaviour.
4. (obsolete, Scotland, chiefly in the plural) Good manners.

Adjective

having (comparative more having, superlative most having)

1. (obsolete) Grasping; greedy.
   • 1875, Christ and the people, sermons (page 282)

     The new man in Humanity, which is the communication of the Son of Man Who is the Interceder, is an asking man, although it is not a greedy and a having man.