Heft

Pronunciation

• IPA: /hÉ›ft/
• Rhymes: -É›ft

Origin

From Old Norse hefð.

Alternative forms

• haft

Full definition of heft

Noun

1. (uncountable) Weight.
• T. Hughesa man of his age and heft
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 5, Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. … When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.
2. Heaviness, the feel of weight.
   A high quality hammer should have good balance and heft.
3. (Northern England) A piece of mountain pasture to which a farm animal has become hefted.
4. An animal that has become hefted thus.
5. (West of Ireland) Poor condition in sheep caused by mineral deficiency.
6. The act or effort of heaving; violent strain or exertion.
• William ShakespeareHe cracks his gorge, his sides,
  With violent hefts.
7. (US, dated, colloquial) The greater part or bulk of anything.
   The heft of the crop was spoiled.

Derived terms

• hefty

Verb

1. (transitive) To lift up; especially, to lift something heavy.He hefted the sack of concrete into the truck.
2. (transitive) To test the weight of something by lifting it.
3. (transitive, Northern England and Scotland) (of a farm animal, especially a flock of sheep) To become accustomed and attached to an area of mountain pasture.
4. (obsolete) past participle of to heave.

Synonyms

• hoist