Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SHOVE, v.t. [Sax. scufan, to push or thrust; scyfan, to suggest, to hint; D. schuiven; G. schieben, schuppen; Sw. skuffa; Dan. skuffer. The more correct orthography would shuv.]

1. To push; to propel; to drive along by the direct application of strength without a sudden impulse; particularly, to push a body by sliding or causing it to move along the surface of another body, either by the hand or by an instrument; as, to shove a bottle along a table; to shove a table along the floor; to shove a boat on the water. And shore away the worthy bidden guest. – Milton. Shoving back this earth on which I sit. – Dryden.
2. To push; to press against. He used to shove and elbow his fellow servants to get near his mistress. – Arbuthnot. To shove away, to push to a distance; to thrust off. To shove by; to push away; to delay, or to reject; as, to shove by the hearing of a cause; or to shove by justice. [Not elegant.] – Shak. To shove off, to thrust or push away. To shove down, to overthrow by pushing. – Arbuthnot.