Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Heavy

Heav′y

,
Adj.
Having the heaves.

Heav′y

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Heavier
;
sup
erl.
Heaviest
.]
[OE.
hevi
, AS.
hefig
, fr.
hebban
to lift, heave; akin to OHG.
hebig
,
hevig
, Icel.
höfigr
,
höfugr
. See
Heave
.]
1.
Heaved or lifted with labor; not light; weighty; ponderous;
as, a
heavy
stone
; hence, sometimes, large in extent, quantity, or effects;
as, a
heavy
fall of rain or snow; a
heavy
failure;
heavy
business transactions, etc.
; often implying strength;
as, a
heavy
barrier
; also, difficult to move;
as, a
heavy
draught
.
2.
Not easy to bear; burdensome; oppressive; hard to endure or accomplish; hence, grievous, afflictive;
as,
heavy
yokes, expenses, undertakings, trials, news, etc.
The hand of the Lord was
heavy
upon them of Ashdod.
1 Sam. v. 6.
The king himself hath a
heavy
reckoning to make.
Shakespeare
Sent hither to impart the
heavy
news.
Wordsworth.
Trust him not in matter of
heavy
consequence.
Shakespeare
3.
Laden with that which is weighty; encumbered; burdened; bowed down, either with an actual burden, or with care, grief, pain, disappointment.
The
heavy
[sorrowing] nobles all in council were.
Chapman.
A light wife doth make a
heavy
husband.
Shakespeare
4.
Slow; sluggish; inactive; or lifeless, dull, inanimate, stupid;
as, a
heavy
gait, looks, manners, style, and the like; a
heavy
writer or book.
Whilst the
heavy
plowman snores.
Shakespeare
Of a
heavy
, dull, degenerate mind.
Dryden.
Neither [is] his ear
heavy
, that it can not hear.
Is. lix. 1.
5.
Strong; violent; forcible;
as, a
heavy
sea, storm, cannonade, and the like
.
6.
Loud; deep; – said of sound;
as,
heavy
thunder
.
But, hark! that
heavy
sound breaks in once more.
Byron.
7.
Dark with clouds, or ready to rain; gloomy; – said of the sky.
8.
Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey; – said of earth;
as, a
heavy
road, soil, and the like
.
9.
Not raised or made light;
as,
heavy
bread
.
10.
Not agreeable to, or suitable for, the stomach; not easily digested; – said of food.
11.
Having much body or strength; – said of wines, or other liquors.
12.
With child; pregnant.
[R.]
Heavy artillery
.
(Mil.)
(a)
Guns of great weight or large caliber, esp. siege, garrison, and seacoast guns.
(b)
Troops which serve heavy guns.
–
Heavy cavalry
.
See under
Cavalry
.
–
Heavy fire
(Mil.)
,
a continuous or destructive cannonading, or discharge of small arms.
–
Heavy metal
(Mil.)
,
large guns carrying balls of a large size; also, large balls for such guns.
–
Heavy metals
.
(Chem.)
See under
Metal
.
–
Heavy weight
,
in wrestling, boxing, etc., a term applied to the heaviest of the classes into which contestants are divided. Cf.
Feather weight
(c)
, under
Feather
.
☞ Heavy is used in composition to form many words which need no special explanation; as, heavy-built, heavy-browed, heavy-gaited, etc.

Heav′y

,
adv.
Heavily; – sometimes used in composition;
as,
heavy
-laden
.

Heav′y

,
Verb.
T.
To make heavy.
[Obs.]
Wyclif.

Webster 1828 Edition

Heavy

HEAV'Y

,
Adj.
hev'y.
1.
Weighty; ponderous; having great weight; tending strongly to the center of attraction; contrary to light; applied to material bodies; as a heavy stone; a heavy load.
2.
Sad; sorrowful; dejected; depressed in mind.
A light wife makes a heavy husband.
So is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart. Prov.25.
3.
Grievous; afflictive; depressing to the spirits; as heavy news; a heavy calamity.
4.
Burdensome; oppressive; as heavy taxes.
Make thy father's heavy yoke--lighter. 1 Kings.12.
5.
Wanting life and animation; dull.
My heavy eyes you say confess
A heart to love and grief inclined.
6.
Drowsy; dull.
Their eyes were heavy. Matt.26. Luke.9.
7.
Wanting spirit or animation; destitute of life or rapidity of sentiment; dull; as a heavy writer; a heavy style.
8.
Wanting activity or vivacity; indolent.
But of a heavy, dull, degenerate mind.
9.
Slow; sluggish.
He walks with a heavy gait.
10. Burdensome; tedious; as heavy hours.
Time lies heavy on him who has no employment.
11. Loaded; encumbered; burdened.
He found his men heavy, and laden with booty.
12. Lying with weight on the stomach; not easily digested; as, oily food is heavy to the stomach.
13. Moist; deep; soft; miry; as heavy land; a heavy soil. We apply heavy to soft loamy or clayey land, which makes the draught of a plow or wagon difficult and laborious. So we say, a heavy road.
14. Difficult; laborious; as a heavy draught.
15. Weary; supported with pain or difficulty.
And the hands of Moses were heavy. Ex.17.
16. Inflicting severe evils,punishments or judgments.
The hand of the Lord was heavy on them of Ashdod.
l Sam.5.
17. Burdensome; occasioning great care.
This thing is too heavy for thee. Ex.18.
18. Dull; not hearing; inattentive.
Neither his ears heavy, that he cannot hear. Is.59.
19. Large, as billows; swelling and rolling with great force; as a heavy sea.
20. Large in amount; as a heavy expense; a heavy debt.
21. Thick; dense; black; as a heavy cloud.
22. Violent; tempestuous; as a heavy wind or gale.
23. Large; abundant; as a heavy fall of snow or rain.
24. Great; violent; forcible; as a heavy fire of cannon or small arms.
25. Not raised by leaven or fermentation; not light; clammy; as heavy bread.
26. Requiring much labor or much expense; as a heavy undertaking.
27. Loud; as heavy thunder.
Heavy metal, in military affairs, signifies large guns, carrying balls of a large size, or it is applied to large balls themselves.

Definition 2024

heavy

heavy

English

Pronunciation

Adjective

heavy ‎(comparative heavier, superlative heaviest)

Four men lifting a heavy sideboard.
  1. (of a physical object) Having great weight.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:
      Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. […] A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.
  2. (of a topic) Serious, somber.
  3. Not easy to bear; burdensome; oppressive.
    heavy yokes, expenses, undertakings, trials, news, etc.
    • Bible, 1 Sam. v. 6
      The hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod.
    • Shakespeare
      The king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make.
    • Wordsworth
      Sent hither to impart the heavy news.
  4. (Britain, slang, dated) Good.
    This film is heavy.‎
  5. (dated, late 1960s, 1970s, US) Profound.
    The Moody Blues are, like, heavy.‎
  6. (of a rate of flow) High, great.
  7. (slang) Armed.
    Come heavy, or not at all.‎
  8. (music) Louder, more distorted.
    Metal is heavier than swing.‎
  9. (of weather) Hot and humid.
  10. (of a person) Doing the specified activity more intensely than most other people.
    He was a heavy sleeper, a heavy eater and a heavy smoker - certainly not an ideal husband.‎
  11. (of food) High in fat or protein; difficult to digest.
    Cheese-stuffed sausage is too heavy to eat before exercising.‎
  12. Of great force, power, or intensity; deep or intense.
    • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter IV
      The surf was not heavy, and there was no undertow, so we made shore easily, effecting an equally easy landing.
    • 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
    it was a heavy storm;  a heavy slumber in bed;  a heavy punch‎
  13. Laden to a great extent.
    his eyes were heavy with sleep;  she was heavy with child‎
  14. Laden with that which is weighty; encumbered; burdened; bowed down, either with an actual burden, or with grief, pain, disappointment, etc.
    • Chapman
      The heavy [sorrowing] nobles all in council were.
    • Shakespeare
      A light wife doth make a heavy husband.
    • William Browne
      Seating himselfe within a darkesome cave, / (Such places heavy Saturnists doe crave,) / Where yet the gladsome day was never seene […]
  15. Slow; sluggish; inactive; or lifeless, dull, inanimate, stupid.
    a heavy gait, looks, manners, style, etc.
    a heavy writer or book
    • Shakespeare
      whilst the heavy ploughman snores
    • Dryden
      a heavy, dull, degenerate mind
    • Bible, Is. lix. 1
      Neither [is] his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.
  16. Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey.
    a heavy road; a heavy soil
  17. Not raised or leavened.
    heavy bread
  18. Having much body or strength; said of wines or spirits.
  19. (obsolete) With child; pregnant.
Synonyms
Derived terms

Look at pages starting with heavy.

Translations

Adverb

heavy ‎(comparative more heavy, superlative most heavy)

  1. heavily
    heavy laden with their sins
  2. (India, colloquial) very

Noun

heavy ‎(plural heavys or heavies)

  1. A villain or bad guy; the one responsible for evil or aggressive acts.
    With his wrinkled, uneven face, the actor always seemed to play the heavy in films.
  2. (slang) A doorman, bouncer or bodyguard.
    A fight started outside the bar but the heavies came out and stopped it.
  3. (aviation) A large multi-engined aircraft.
    The term heavy normally follows the call-sign when used by air traffic controllers.
Translations

Verb

heavy ‎(third-person singular simple present heavies, present participle heavying, simple past and past participle heavied)

  1. (often with "up") To make heavier.
  2. To sadden.
  3. (Australia, New Zealand, informal) To use power and/or wealth to exert influence on, e.g., governments or corporations; to pressure.
    The union was well known for the methods it used to heavy many businesses.
    • 1985, Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives Weekly Hansard, Issue 11, Part 1, page 1570,
      […] the Prime Minister sought to evade the simple fact that he heavied Mr Reid to get rid of Dr Armstrong.
    • 2001, Finola Moorhead, Darkness More Visible, Spinifex Press, Australia, page 557,
      But he is on the wrong horse, heavying me. My phone′s tapped. Well, he won′t find anything.
    • 2005, David Clune, Ken Turner (editors), The Premiers of New South Wales, 1856-2005, Volume 3: 1901-2005, page 421,
      But the next two days of the Conference also produced some very visible lobbying for the succession and apparent heavying of contenders like Brereton, Anderson and Mulock - much of it caught on television.

Etymology 2

heave +‎ -y

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhiːvi/

Adjective

heavy ‎(comparative more heavy, superlative most heavy)

  1. Having the heaves.
    a heavy horse

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: company · sweet · duty · #614: heavy · single · foot · beauty

Etymology

From Middle English hevy, heviȝ, from Old English hefiġ, hefeġ, hæfiġ ‎(“heavy; important, grave, severe, serious; oppressive, grievous; slow, dull”), from Proto-Germanic *habīgaz ‎(“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- ‎(“to take, grasp, hold”), equivalent to heave +‎ -y. Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy ‎(“heavy”), Dutch hevig ‎(“violent, severe, intense, acute”), Middle Low German hēvich ‎(“violent, fierce, intense”), German hebig (compare heftig ‎(“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur ‎(“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx ‎(“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”).

Similar Results