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Had rather

 - 5 dictionary results
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have

  [hav; unstressed huhv, uhv; for 26 usually haf] verb and auxiliary verb, present singular 1st person have, 2nd have or (Archaic) hast, 3rd has or (Archaic) hath, present plural have; past singular 1st person had, 2nd had or (Archaic) hadst or had⋅dest, 3rd had, past plural had; past participle had; present participle hav⋅ing, noun
Use Had rather in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to possess; own; hold for use; contain: He has property. The work has an index.
2. to hold, possess, or accept in some relation, as of kindred or relative position: He wanted to marry her, but she wouldn't have him.
3. to get, receive, or take: to have a part in a play; to have news.
4. to experience, undergo, or endure, as joy or pain: Have a good time. He had a heart attack last year.
5. to hold in mind, sight, etc.: to have doubts.
6. to cause to, as by command or invitation: Have him come here at five.
7. to be related to or be in a certain relation to: She has three cousins. He has a kind boss.
8. to show or exhibit in action or words: She had the crust to refuse my invitation.
9. to be identified or distinguished by; possess the characteristic of: He has a mole on his left cheek. This wood has a silky texture.
10. to engage in or carry on: to have a talk; to have a fight.
11. to partake of; eat or drink: He had cake and coffee for dessert.
12. to permit or allow: I will not have any talking during the concert.
13. to assert, maintain, or represent as being: Rumor has it that she's going to be married.
14. to know, understand, or be skilled in: to have neither Latin nor Greek.
15. to beget or give birth to: to have a baby.
16. to hold an advantage over: He has you there.
17. to outwit, deceive, or cheat: We realized we'd been had by an expert con artist.
18. to control or possess through bribery; bribe.
19. to gain possession of: There is none to be had at that price.
20. to hold or put in a certain position or situation: The problem had me stumped. They had him where they wanted him.
21. to exercise, display, or make use of: Have pity on him.
22. to invite or cause to be present as a companion or guest: We had Evelyn and Everett over for dinner. He has his bodyguard with him at all times.
23. to engage in sexual intercourse with.
–verb (used without object)
24. to be in possession of money or wealth: There are some who have and some who have not.
–auxiliary verb
25. (used with a past participle to form perfect tenses): She has gone. It would have been an enjoyable party if he hadn't felt downcast.
26. to be required, compelled, or under obligation (fol. by infinitival to, with or without a main verb): I have to leave now. I didn't want to study, but I had to.
–noun
27. Usually, haves. an individual or group that has wealth, social position, or other material benefits (contrasted with have-not ).
—Verb phrase
28. have at, to go at vigorously; attack: First he decided to have at his correspondence.
—Idioms
29. had better or best, ought to: You'd better go now, it's late.
30. had rather. rather (def. 7).
31. have done, to cease; finish: It seemed that they would never have done with their struggle.
32. have had it,
a. to become weary of or disgusted with whatever one has been doing: I've been working like a fool, but now I've had it.
b. to suffer defeat; fail: He was a great pitcher, but after this season he'll have had it.
c. to have missed a last opportunity: He refused to take any more excuses and told them all that they'd had it.
d. to become unpopular or passé: Quiz shows have had it.
33. have it coming, to merit or deserve: When they lost their fortune, everyone said that they had it coming.
34. have it in for, to plan or wish to do something unpleasant to; hold a grudge against: She has it in for intelligent students who fail to use their abilities.
35. have it out, to come to an understanding or decision through discussion or combat: We've been in disagreement about this for a long time, and I think we should have it out, once and for all.
36. have on,
a. to be clothed in; be wearing: She had on a new dress.
b. to have arranged or planned: What do you have on for Christmas?
c. to tease (a person); make the butt of a joke. Compare put (def. 35).
37. have to do with,
a. to be connected or associated with: Your lack of confidence probably had a lot to do with your not getting the job.
b. to deal with; be concerned with: I will have nothing to do with their personal squabbles.
38. to have and to hold, to possess legally; have permanent possession of: The house, with the mortgage finally paid, was at last their own to have and to hold.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME haven, habben, OE habban; c. G haben, ON hafa, Goth haban to have; perh. akin to heave

Synonyms:
1. Have, hold, occupy, own, possess mean to be, in varying degrees, in possession of something. Have, being the most general word, admits of the widest range of application: to have money, rights, discretion, a disease, a glimpse, an idea; to have a friend's umbrella. To hold is to have in one's grasp or one's control, but not necessarily as one's own: to hold stakes. To occupy is to hold and use, but not necessarily by any right of ownership: to occupy a chair, a house, a position. To own is to have the full rights of property in a thing, which, however, another may be holding or enjoying: to own a house that is rented to tenants. Possess is a more formal equivalent for own and suggests control, and often occupation, of large holdings: to possess vast territories. 3. obtain, gain, secure, procure.

Antonyms:
1. lack.

Usage note:
See of.
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rath⋅er

  [adv. rath-er, rah-ther; interj. rath-ur, rah-thur]
–adverb
1. in a measure; to a certain extent; somewhat: rather good.
2. in some degree: I rather thought you would regret it.
3. more properly or justly; with better reason: The contrary is rather to be supposed.
4. sooner; more readily or willingly: to die rather than yield.
5. more properly or correctly speaking; more truly: He is a painter or, rather, a watercolorist.
6. on the contrary: It's not generosity, rather self-interest.
7. rather than, instead of: Tutoring is provided by older students rather than teachers. Rather than complain, you should try to make changes.
–interjection
8. Chiefly British. emphatically yes; assuredly; without doubt: Is the book worth reading?Rather!
—Idiom
9. had or would rather, to prefer that or to: I had much rather we not stay. We would rather go for dinner after the show.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE hrathor, comp. of hræth quick, rathe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

rather 
O.E. hraþor "more quickly, earlier, sooner," also "more readily," comparative of hraþe, hræþe "quickly," related to hræð "quick," from P.Gmc. *khrathuz (cf. O.N. hraðr, O.H.G. hrad). The base form rathe was obsolete by 18c. except in poetry; superlative rathest fell from use by 17c. Meaning "more willingly" is recorded from 1297; sense of "more truly" is attested from c.1380.

have 
O.E. habban "to own, possess," from P.Gmc. *khaf- (cf. O.N. hafa, O.S. hebbjan, O.Fris. habba, Ger. haben, Goth. haban "to have"), from PIE *kap- "to grasp" (see capable). Not related to L. habere, despite similarity in form and sense; the L. cognate is capere "seize." O.E. second pers. sing. pres. hæfst, third pers. sing. pres. hæfð became M.E. hast, hath, while O.E. -bb- became -v- in have. The p.p. had developed from O.E. gehæfd. Sense of "possess, have at one's disposal" (I have a book) is a shift from older languages, where the thing possessed was made the subject and the possessor took the dative case (e.g. L. est mihi liber "I have a book," lit. "there is to me a book"). Used as an auxiliary in O.E., too (esp. to form present perfect tense); the word has taken on more functions over time; Mod.Eng. he had better would have been O.E. him (dat.) wære betere. To have to for "must" (1579) is from sense of "possess as a duty or thing to be done" (O.E.). Have-not "poor person" first recorded 1836. Phrase have a nice day first attested 1971. You never had it so good (1946) was said to be the stock answer to any complaints about U.S. Army life. Phrase have (noun), will (verb) is from 1954, originally from comedian Bob Hope, in the form Have tux, will travel; Hope described it as typical of vaudevillians' ads in "Variety," indicating a willingness to perform anywhere, any time.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

had rather

Also, had sooner. Would prefer. For example, I had rather you let me do the driving, or He'd sooner switch than fight. This idiom today is often replaced by would rather. [Late 1500s] Also see just as soon.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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