What is to make an effort to raise, throw, or move anything; to strain to do something difficult. The Church of England had struggled and heaved at a reformation ever since Wyclif's days. Atterbury called?

heave — To make an effort to raise, throw, or move anything; to strain to do something difficult. The Church of England had struggled and heaved at a reformation ever since Wyclif's days. Atterbury. (Webster's 1913.)