Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to be dismissed from a job.

1899		R. Whiteing No. 5 John Street 98: ‘Did you get the shove to-day?’ ‘The what?’ ‘The sack?’.
1907		Star Trib. (Minneapolis, MI) 30 Sept. 3/5: Colonel Bogey is dismissed [...] Glad he’s gone [...] Now he’s got the shove.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 109: Who passed away. Who departed this life. As if they did it of their own accord. Got the shove, all of them.
1985		Santa Fe New Mexican (NM) 19 Sept. 5/5: He got the shove [...] and that left room for Johnson to move up to his post.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 155: Other terms for losing one’s job include to [...] get the fuck; get the push; get the shove.

2. to be rejected by a lover.

1908

Bulletin (Sydney) 30 July 14/2: ‘Ow’d y’ come t’ git th’ shove?’ ‘Through not clingin’ t’ th’ all-powerful, Mucker,’ answered Ponto, gloomily, and ‘waxed’ the end of an unhealthy-looking bumper, preparatory to lighting it.

3. in sports contexts, to be dismissed from the game.

2000

Bug (Aus.) 4 Aug. 🌐 You never know when the rule is going to be enforced or whether getting the shove for swearing is going to return.

to dismiss, usu. from a job.

1899		R. Whiteing No. 5 John Street 214: Cooks sittin’ up all the blessed time to get it ready for ’im [...] If it warn’t ready, he give the shove to the ’ole shoot.
1996		J. Cameron It Was An Accident 63: You heard that Kelly gave me the shove Noreen?
2021		L. McInerney Rules of Revelation 148: ‘Isn’t that why Karine gave him the shove?’.