• Heavy

    Pronunciation

    • enPR: hev'i, IPA: /ˈhÉ›vi/
    • Rhymes: -É›vi

    Origin 1

    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 (cf. heftig ("fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy")), Icelandic höfugur ("heavy, weighty, important"), Latin capāx ("large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt").

    Full definition of heavy

    Adjective

    heavy

    1. (of a physical object) Having great weight.
      • 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 2, 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. 6The hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod.
      • ShakespeareThe king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make.
      • WordsworthSent hither to impart the heavy news.
    4. (British, 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 (novel) Chapter IVThe surf was not heavy, and there was no undertow, so we made shore easily, effecting an equally easy landing.
      • 2013-07-20, Out of the gloom, 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.
    13. it was a heavy storm;  a heavy slumber in bed;  a heavy punch
    14. Laden to a great extent.
      his eyes were heavy with sleep;  she was heavy with child''
    15. Laden with that which is weighty; encumbered; burdened; bowed down, either with an actual burden, or with grief, pain, disappointment, etc.
      • ChapmanThe heavy sorrowing nobles all in council were.
      • ShakespeareA light wife doth make a heavy husband.
    16. Slow; sluggish; inactive; or lifeless, dull, inanimate, stupid.a heavy gait, looks, manners, style, etc.a heavy writer or book
      • Shakespearewhilst the heavy ploughman snores
      • Drydena heavy, dull, degenerate mind
      • Bible, Is. lix. 1Neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.
    17. Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey.a heavy road; a heavy soil
    18. Not raised or leavened.heavy bread
    19. Having much body or strength; said of wines or spirits.
    20. (obsolete) With child; pregnant.

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Derived terms

    Adverb

    heavy

    1. heavilyheavy 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.

    Verb

    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.

    Origin 2

    heave + -y

    Adjective

    heavy

    1. Having the heaves.a heavy horse
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