/ˈhɛv.i/, /ˈhev.i/
OriginFrom Middle English hevy, heviȝ, from Old English hefiġ, hefeġ, hæfiġ (“heavy; important, grave, severe, serious; oppressive, grievous; slow, dull”), from Proto-West Germanic *habīg (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Germanic *habīgaz (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to take, grasp, hold”). Related to have.
Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Saterland Frisian heeuwich, häwich (“violent, angry”), West Frisian hevich (“violent”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), German Low German hevig (“violent, fierce, intense, angry”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”).
Compare typologically Russian объёмный (obʺjómnyj), ёмкий (jómkij) (akin to име́ть (imétʹ), взять (vzjatʹ)).
- Having great weight.
“Can you help me carry this? It's really heavy.”
“Use the scales to measure how heavy it is.”
“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, togeth”
- Heavyset: overweight.
“When he was a child he was rather heavy, but today he is impressively fit.”
- Serious, somber.
“"We're still in an existential-stakes war with the Pa'anuri, and possibly with our own destructive tendencies." ' "Sorry. That was pretty heavy for someone who just woke up." "Oh, I'm fine. Waking up ”
- Not easy to bear; burdensome; oppressive.
“heavy yokes, expenses, undertakings, trials, news, etc.”
“The hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod.”
“The king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make.”
- British, dated, slangGood.
- US, datedProfound.
“The Moody Blues are, like, heavy.”
- High, great.
“1998, Stanley George Clayton, ""Menstruation" in Encyclopedia Britannica
The ovarian response to gonadotropic hormones may be erratic at first, so that irregular or heavy bleeding sometimes occurs”
- slangArmed.
“Come heavy, or not at all.”
- Loud, distorted, or intense.
“Metal is heavier than rock.”
- Hot and humid.
- Doing the specified activity more intensely than most other people.
“This car is too heavy on gas.”
“He was a heavy sleeper, a heavy eater and a heavy smoker – certainly not an ideal husband.”
“He was described in the theatrical prints as the “veteran Blenkinsop”—“the useful Blenkinsop”—“that old favourite of the public, Blenkinsop”—those parts in the drama, which are called the heavy father”
- With eyelids difficult to keep open due to tiredness.
“Watch for the signs of fatigue, including yawning, blinking and heavy eyes.”
- High in fat or protein; difficult to digest.
“Cheese-stuffed sausage is too heavy to eat before exercising.”
- Of great force, power, or intensity; deep or intense.
“it was a heavy storm; a heavy slumber in bed; a heavy punch”
“The surf was not heavy, and there was no undertow, so we made shore easily, effecting an equally easy landing.”
“[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”
- Laden with that which is weighty; encumbered; burdened; bowed down, either with an actual burden, or with grief, pain, disappointment, etc.
“his eyes were heavy with sleep; she was heavy with child”
“The heavy [sorrowing] nobles all in council were.”
“A light wife doth make a heavy husband.”
- Slow; sluggish; inactive; or lifeless, dull, inanimate, stupid.
“a heavy gait, looks, manners, style, etc.”
“a heavy writer or book”
“whilst the heavy ploughman snores”
- Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey.
“The next day we only made some eight miles, as the road was heavy beyond all belief. It lay through a desert region of country which was ancle-deep ^([sic]) in soda and alkali dust.”
“a heavy road; a heavy soil”
- Not raised or leavened.
- Having much body or strength.
- obsoleteWith child; pregnant.
- Containing one or more isotopes that are heavier than the normal one.
- Of petroleum, having high viscosity.
- Of a market: in which the price of shares is declining.
“The very low prices of brandy, and the continuance of a heavy market for such a length of time, have begun to attract buyers; […]”
“The oil market is heavy, each day bringing along further supplies of shares from people who have not tired of the long-continued decline in the market.”
- Heavily-armed.
- Having a relatively high takeoff weight and payload.
- Having a maximum takeoff weight exceeding 300,000 tons, as almost all widebodies do, generating high wake turbulence.
“In a firm voice he said, “World Wide Six heavy is ready for takeoff.””
- Having the heaves.
- In a heavy manner; weightily; heavily; gravely.
“Heavy-laden with their sins, time hung heavy”
- colloquial, nonstandardTo a great degree; greatly.
“Olive: What was it - booze? Barney: Yeh. Been hitting it pretty heavy.”
- India, colloquialvery
- slangA 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.”
- slangA doorman, bouncer or bodyguard.
“A fight started outside the bar but the heavies came out and stopped it.”
- A prominent figure; a "major player".
“A collection of topical themes and love songs, featuring session work by women's music "heavies" Holly Near, Mary Watkins, Linda Tillery, Robin Flower, and others.”
- in-plural, slangA newspaper of the quality press.
“The comment may be offered here that the 'heavies' have been the Design Award's principal scorers, both in the overall bronze plaque days and, since, in the Daily/Sunday Class 1.”
“Reviewers in the heavies aim to impress with the depth of their knowledge and appreciation.”
- A relatively large multi-engined aircraft.
“I read five heavies, maybe transports or tankers...could be bombers.”
“A 76 Squadron pilot who later completed a second tour on Mosquitoes said that his colleagues on the light bombers “simply could never understand how awful being on heavies was.””
- archaic, slangA serious theatrical role.
“Payton boasted his range included "leading parts or genteel heavies, character old men, dialect parts, old women and, on occasion, soubrettes and leading ladies"; however, he was most at ease in light”
- historicalA member of the heavy cavalry.
“Cavalry […] is divided into mediums, heavies, and light cavalry. The mediums consist of 13 regiments; the heavies of 2 regiments; and the light of 13.”
- oftenTo make heavier.
“They piled their goods on the donkey's back, heavying up an already backbreaking load.”
- To sadden.
- Australia, New-Zealand, informalTo use power 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.”
“[…]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.”
Formsheavier(comparative) · heaviest(superlative) · more heavy(comparative) · most heavy(superlative) · heavies(plural) · heavys(plural) · heavies(present, singular, third-person) · heavying(participle, present) · heavied(participle, past) · heavied(past)