▪ I. heavy, a.1 (n.)
(ˈhɛvɪ)
Forms: 1 hefiᵹ, hefeᵹ, (north. hæfiᵹ), 2–3 hefeȝ, 2–4 hevi, 3 (Orm.) hefiȝ, (evi), 4 heve, 4–6 hevy, Sc. hewy, 5–6 (evy), hevye, 6 hevey, (Sc. havy, -ie, hawy(e, hayvie), 6–7 heavie, -ye, 6– heavy.
[OE. hęfiᵹ = OS. hęƀig (MDu. hevich, Du. hevig), OHG. hębîg, hęvîg, hęvîch, MHG. hebec, ON. höfugr, höfigr:—OTeut. *haƀigo-, *haƀugo-, f. *hafi-z, OE. hęfe weight, f. *hafjan, to heave.]
A. adj. I. In the primary physical sense, and uses connected therewith.
1. a. Of great weight; weighty, ponderous. The opposite of light.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 4 Hiᵹ bindað hefiᵹe byrþyna..and lecgeað þa uppan manna exla. c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 95 Ic am heui, al so he ðe is imaked of ierðe. a 1300 Cursor M. 17288 + 99 Who sal vus helpe To remou þat heuy stone? 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 289 Þis ax, þat is heue innogh. 1486 Bk. St. Albans D iij, Looke..that thay be not to heuy ouer hir power to weyr. 1592 Timme 10 Eng. Lepers C iv b, [A coate] too colde for winter, and too heavie and hote for sommer. 1665 R. Hooke Microgr. 204 It [the ant] was able to grasp and hold a heavy body, three or four times the bulk and weight of its own body. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 158 Bad tradesmen make this plough heavy and clumsy. 1853 W. Gregory Inorg. Chem. (ed. 3) 24, 1 atom of oxygen will be eight times heavier than 1 atom of hydrogen. |
| fig. a 1340 Hampole Psalter iv. 3 Þe weght of wickednes þ{supt} makis ȝoure herts heuyere þan lede. 1340 ― Pr. Consc. 2868 For syn es swa hevy and swa harde, Þat it drawes þe saul ay dunwarde. a 1786 Cowper Yearly Distr. iv, Each heart as heavy as a log. |
b. to lie, sit heavy upon or at: chiefly
fig.| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 118 Let me sit heauy on thy soule to morrow. 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (Vol. II.) 32, I have something, I know not what, lies heavy at my heart. 1721 Berkeley Prev. Ruin Gt. Brit. Wks. III. 209 This public calamity that lies so heavy on the nation. c 1726 A. Evans Elegy on Vanbrugh, Lie heavy on him, earth! for he Laid many heavy loads on thee! 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 287 These burdens did not lie very heavy on the nation. |
c. Weighty because of the quantity present; hence, in large quantity or amount, abundant. Also of timber: consisting of large trees (
U.S.).
| 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 78 Heavy harvests nod beneath the snow. 1795 Gentl. Mag. 539/1 Another sharp frost and heavy snow. 1835 Penny Cycl. III. 464/1 The early-sown crops are..in general the heaviest. 1843 Yale Lit. Mag. VIII. 406 In this patch of ‘heavy timber’. 1853 B. F. Taylor Jan. & June (1871) 252 [The storm] went crashing on, into the heavy timber. 1857 Livingstone Trav. xix. 373 Virgin soil does not give such a heavy crop as an old garden. |
d. techn. Possessing (appreciable) weight. In
Physics, applied to bodies whose weight may not be disregarded in calculations.
| 1871 Tait & Steele Dynamics of a Particle (ed. 3) iv. Example 46 A heavy particle is projected from a given point with a given velocity. |
2. a. Possessing great weight in proportion to bulk; of great specific gravity.
| a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xx. 266 Eorþe is hefiᵹre oðrum ᵹesceaftum. 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxvii. 3 Heuy is the ston, and charjous is the grauel. c 1440 York Myst. xviii. 20 Hevye as leede. 1530 Palsgr. 315/1 Heavy as golde is or any thyng that wayeth moche, massif. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth Pref., According to the Order of their Gravity those which are heavyest lying deepest in the Earth. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 608 An oil, deeper coloured..but equally heavy. |
b. Of bread, pastry, etc.: That has not properly ‘risen’, and is consequently dense and compact.
| 1828 Webster, Heavy..25. Not raised by leaven or fermentation; not light; clammy; as heavy bread. 1837–42 Whittock, etc. Bk. Trades 17 Kneading..is..indispensable, or the dough would be in lumps and the bread heavy. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede ii. (ed. 5) 208 If the bread turned out heavy. 1887 Baring-Gould Red Spider xxix. (1888) 218 The pasty is heavy. |
c. Applied to elements whose specific gravity is relatively great;
heavy metal (see also sense 6 b), a metal of high specific gravity (see
quot. 1955).
| 1864 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XVII. 126 In support of the view that thallium is one of the heavy metals, the following reasons may be given. 1868 Lockyer Elem. Astron. iii. (1879) 59 Platinum, the heaviest metal. 1903 Jrnl. Physiol. XXIX. 165 Most of the heavy metals when injected directly into the circulation give rise to increased movements of plain muscle throughout the body. 1922 F. W. Aston Isotopes viii. 101 The nucleus of the atom of an ordinary element (not hydrogen)..is very small compared with the atom itself. Its dimensions can be roughly determined by actual experiment in the case of the heavy elements. 1936 Discovery Feb. 36/1 Heavy elements, such as gold, silver, and lead. 1936 R. P. Bell tr. Bjerrum's Inorg. Chem. 213 The metals fall naturally into two groups: the light metals with densities below four, and the heavy metals with densities above seven... The heavy metals have their electrons more firmly bound and are less electropositive than the light metals. 1946 Monthly Notices R. Astron. Soc. CVI. 357 Material at any point..on the other side of the curve is composed almost entirely of heavy elements, the main mass of the elements in the latter case having atomic weight greater than 50. 1955 Chem. & Engin. News 2 May 1902/2 Karl F. Heumann wonders what is meant by ‘heavy metal’. One authority says it is any metal having a specific gravity greater than 4.0. Another says it is sometimes applied to those of sp. gr. 5.0 or over... Has ‘heavy metal’ ever been officially defined? 1961 Jrnl. Chem. Educ. XXXVIII. 67/1 The present treatment will be restricted to the main process responsible for the heavy elements, of mass number A greater than 70. 1972 Science 14 Apr. 161 (title) Enrichment of heavy metals and organic compounds in the surface microlayer of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. |
d. Physics. Of hydrogen: consisting of the isotope deuterium (which is of greater mass than protium, the normal isotope). Of a compound of hydrogen: having some or all of the hydrogen isotope present as deuterium. So
heavy water, deuterium oxide, D
2O, or a mixture of this with ordinary water;
heavy-water-moderated a., of a nuclear reactor: employing heavy water as a moderator;
heavy water reactor, a nuclear reactor in which the moderator is heavy water.
This usage is
occas. extended to the isotopes of other elements to designate an isotope that is of greater mass than the normal isotope.
| 1933 Nature 22 Apr. 590/2 Heavy water freezes when surrounded by melting ice. 1933 Jrnl. Chem. Physics June 344/2 Let us make an estimate of the amount of the heavy hydrogen isotope in ordinary water. 1933 Discovery July 211/1 For the first time in history a chemical element has been divided into two completely different parts. A new ‘heavy’ hydrogen has been separated from the old. 1933 Science 29 Dec. 602/1 In fact, if there were only two waters, two ammonias, and so forth, the names ‘light water’, ‘heavy water’, ‘light ammonia’ and ‘heavy ammonia’ would be very satisfactory indeed. 1934 Discovery Jan. 1/1 There is one part only of heavy hydrogen to 35,000 parts of light hydrogen. 1934, 1935 [see deuterium]. 1936 Punch 23 Sept. 337/1 ‘Heavy-water’, the newly-discovered fluid, costs {pstlg}120 a teaspoonful. 1937 Discovery Oct. 317/1 The value of heavy nitrogen for research in physiological chemistry is inestimable. 1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 320/1 ‘Heavy water’ or deuterium oxide is now manufactured commercially and is an article of commerce. 1938 R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) xx. 187 The properties of ‘heavy hydrogen’ or ‘deuterium’..differ..strongly from those of the much more abundant ordinary hydrogen. 1941 in M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy (1964) App. ii. 395 We know that Germany has taken a great deal of trouble to secure supplies of the substance known as heavy water. 1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes i. 11 A frequently used ‘beam’ source of neutrons results from accelerated deuterons impinging on ‘heavy water’ ice. 1946 Electronic Engin. XVIII. 142 The deuteron..which is the nucleus of heavy hydrogen, or deuterium. 1947 Crowther & Whiddington Science at War 145 The slow neutrons produced by the uranium and heavy-water system would transmute many uranium atoms into the new element plutonium. 1955 Ann. Reg. 1954 393 Dimple (deuterium moderated pile, low energy) was Britain's first heavy water reactor. 1956 Nature 4 Feb. 205/2 Three enriched-uranium heavy-water-moderated..reactors are under construction. 1958 Listener 28 Aug. 294/2 Producing heavy water from electricity from the proposed Aswan High Dam. 1964 M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy ii. 73 Meanwhile doubts grew about the wisdom of pressing the Americans too hard about the heavy water project. |
3. Great with young; gravid, pregnant. Also
fig.| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Magdalena 396 Suppose with barne scho hewy ware. a 1684 Leighton Comm. 1 Pet. Wks. 1835 I. 345 When they are big and heavy with some inward exercise of mind. 1884 Jefferies Red Deer ii. 32 Two of them were heavy in calf. |
4. Increased in weight by the addition of something; laden
with. Also
fig.| 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, Wks. 1825 III. 324 His men heavy and laden with booty. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 65/2 Winds..from the West..are heavyest at Sun-rise. 1840 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. vii. 109 The very air heavy with the rich perfume of the seringas and acacias. 1888 ‘L. Malet’ Couns. Perfect. 63 The words seeming to her heavy with meaning. Ibid. 290 This hour, heavy though it was with possible sorrow. |
5. a. Applied technically to classes of goods, manufactured articles, breeds of animals, etc. of more than a defined or usual weight. Hence
b. transf. Connected or concerned with the manufacture, carriage, etc. of such articles. Esp. in
phr. heavy industry. Hence
heavy-industrial adj. Also
heavy chemicals: see
chemical a. 6 b.
| 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 56 They have not heavy luggage. Ibid. 95 They have a race of heavy Horses. 1883 B. M. Croker Pretty Miss Neville xiii. (1884) 110 Your heavy baggage—is it all right? 1887 Daily News 2 May 2/7 In heavy woollens..there is a little more doing. 1895 Ibid. 3 Jan. 5/3 Precedence is as usual given to the exhibition of heavy horses, colloquially known as ‘shires’. |
| b. 1888 Lit. World 7 Sept. 179/1 The father became a curate in the Heavy Woollen District of Yorkshire. 1894 Daily News 19 Mar. 3/7 Those engaged in the heavy steel trades. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 9 July 6/1 The passenger lines have secured gains on increases a year ago, but on some of the ‘heavy’ lines less satisfactory results are shown. 1932 Times 5 Jan. 11/2 The Central Committee of the Communist Party has decided to reorganize the Union Supreme Economic Council, which is to be styled Commissariat of Heavy Industries. 1938 Archit. Rev. LXXXIII. 117/2 The majority of ‘heavy’ industries are of the latter type. 1938 Times 17 Feb. 16/1 The comparatively high price of iron and steel in Japan (a result of the artificial character of heavy-industrial growth in a country with insufficient ore and unsuitable coal). 1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Rev. i. iii. 6 The deliberate encouragement of heavy industry under a Five Year Plan, at the expense of all other kinds of enterprise which would have flourished in a laisser-faire economy, is the most clear-cut example. 1957 L. F. R. Williams State of Israel 44 The raw materials required by her expanding heavy and light industries. |
6. a. Applied to ordnance of the larger kind. Also applied to aerial bombs.
| 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Artillery, There was no attacking such a place for want of heavy artillery. 1813 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. X. 479, I have not by me the state of the heavy ordnance and stores which were sent. 1828 Webster s.v., Heavy metal, in military affairs, signifies large guns, carrying balls of a large size, or it is applied to large balls themselves. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 24 Heavy guns were brought up..and preparations were made to carry the fort by storm. 1889 Cent. Dict., s.v. Artillery, Heavy Artillery [U.S.], all artillery not formed into batteries or equipped for field evolutions. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 206 A line of narrow-nosed buses, with heavy bombs fitted under the lower planes, ready to leave for their objective. |
b. fig. heavy metal: see
quot.| 1882 Ogilvie s.v., Heavy metal, guns or shot of large size; hence, fig. ability, mental or bodily; power, influence; as, he is a man of heavy metal; also, a person or persons of great ability or power, mental or bodily; used generally of one who is or is to be another's opponent in any contest; as, we had to do with heavy metal. (Colloq.) |
7. Mil. Carrying heavy arms or equipment; heavily armed or equipped: said chiefly of soldiers (who are themselves usually specially selected for their height and weight).
heavy (marching) order: see
quot. 1883. (
Cf. B. 1.) Also of military aircraft, descriptive of a large type of bombing aeroplane.
| 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 389/1 The heavy cavalry in general carry carabines, pistols and swords; and the light cavalry very small carabines, pistols, and sabres. 1838 Thirlwall Greece V. 43 To raise an army of 20,000 heavy infantry and 500 cavalry. 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 55 To be frequently paraded, and exercised at least once a week in Heavy Marching Order. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 394 The soldier..when he marches in time of peace in heavy order, carries his pack, kit, haversack. 1883 H. P. Smith Gloss. Terms & Phr., Heavy order or heavy marching order, that of a soldier equipped and carrying, besides his arms and ammunition, complete kit, and great coat, amounting altogether to about 60 pounds. 1885 Tennyson (title) Charge of the Heavy Brigade. 1921 Flight XIII. 615/2 The S.E.5's made the first attack, and dropped about 40 25-lb Cooper bombs, with the object of..preparing the way for the heavy bombers. 1939 War Illustr. 18 Dec. 459 Described as modern heavy bombers, these 'planes of the Red Air Force are certainly larger than any standard bomber in the British Air Force. |
II. Expressing the action or operation of things physically weighty.
8. Having great momentum; striking or falling with force or violence.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 369 He him-selff..Sa hard and hewy dyntis gave. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxix. 7 With haill, and havy schouris. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 18 The stroke upon his shield so heavie lites. 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 871 Like feather-bed betwixt a wall And heavy brunt of cannon ball. 1805 in Nicolas Nelson's Disp. (1846) VII. 166 note, The Enemy opened a very heavy fire on the Royal Sovereign. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. v, They mean heavy play and no mistake. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 5 A heavy sea running outside. 1888 Mrs. Alexander Life Interest I. x. 198 A heavy thunderstorm came on. |
9. a. Of ground, a road, etc.: That clings or hangs heavily to the spade, feet, wheels, etc., and thus impedes motion or manipulation; soft and tenacious. Also
transf.| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 22 b, If you breake up newe ground, yf it be riche, heavie, and prepared for seede, it suffiseth to plowe it once. 1710 S. Sewall Diary 1 Dec. (1879) II. 294 The ways were heavy. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton vi. (1840) 105 The sand was nowhere so deep and heavy. 1827 Whately Logic i. iii. (1836) 181 Universally what are called heavy soils are specifically the lightest. 1837 Boston Herald 3 Jan. 2 Scarcely any of the mail-coaches arrived in London before half-past 8 o'clock, owing to the heavy state of the roads. 1855 Thoreau Cape Cod iii. (1894) 34 That we should find it very ‘heavy’ walking in the sand. 1884 Lillywhite's Cricket Ann. 44 The ground was so heavy from recent rains. |
b. Golf. Of a ball: lying in sand.
| 1886 H. Hutchinson Hints Game Golf 39 When lying ‘heavy’..bear in mind that it is better to hit the ball with the iron than to miss it with a spoon. |
10. That weighs upon the stomach; difficult of digestion.
| 1574 Newton Health Mag. L ij, Mullets and Barbilles..fried..are heauie and hard to digest. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd., The flesh of the males is more strong, dry, and heavy of digestion. 1708 Swift Remarks Wks. 1883 VIII. 127 It may lie heavy on her stomach, that she will grow too big to get back into her hole. 1842 J. Wilson Ess., Health (1856) 172 Bacon is a coarse and heavy food. |
11. heavy in, on (upon) hand: said of a horse that bears or hangs on the bit. Also
fig.| 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1708/4 A Spring Snaffle, that Commandeth with the greatest ease imaginable, all hard-mouthed Run-away Horses..and those that ride heavy in hand. 1831 Johnson Sportsm. Cycl. s.v., A horse is said to be heavy in hand, when from want of spirit he goes sluggishly on, bearing his whole weight upon the bit. 1857 G. Lawrence Guy Liv. xi. 106 Poor Bella! how heavy on hand she will find him. |
III. Weighty in import, grave, serious.
12. Of great import; weighty, important; serious, grave. Now
rare or
Obs.| 971 Blickl. Hom. 101 Eac we maᵹon ᵹeþencean þæt þæt hefiᵹre is þæt man [etc.]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 23 Ge forleton þa þing þe synt hefeᵹran [c 1160 Hatton G. hefeᵹeren], þære æ dom, and mildheortnysse, and ᵹeleafan. a 1225 Ancr. R. 76 For þe seldspeche hire wordes weren heuie, and hefden much mihte. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 66 Some heauie businesse hath my Lord in hand. 1601 ― All's Well ii. v. 49 Trust him not in matter of heauie consequence. 1890 Spectator 6 Dec., To make a graver, and, if we may be allowed the adjective, a heavier speech. |
13. Grave, severe, deep, profound, intense.
| c 1000 Eccl. Inst. xxvii. in Thorpe Anc. Laws II. 424 Hwa..on swa hefiᵹe scylde ᵹehreose. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 320 Wið hefiᵹum synnum. a 1123 O.E. Chron. an. 1106 Ðises ᵹeares eac wæron swiðe hefiᵹe and sinlice ᵹewinn betwux þam Casere..and his sunu. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 51 Ulcne mon..þet lið in heuie sunne. c 1200 Ormin 10028 Full of hefiȝ dwilde. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. i. §1 A number of heauie preiudices, deepely rooted in the hearts of men. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iii. 196 margin, The hayuie hatred and Jnuie of the Pechtes towarde the Scottis. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 827 A dead march sounded, and heavy silence commanded to be kept through all the campe. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. ii. i. 50 In the sixteenth century we meet with heavy complaints respecting the disuse of the long⁓bow. 1820 Shelley Œdipus i. 371 The heaviest sin on this side of the Alps! 1861 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 138 You have read in the papers of our heavy English frost. |
b. Of an amatory relationship: intense, intensive;
spec. heavy petting, non-coital physical contact between two people, involving sexual stimulation of the genitals.
| 1952 M. R. Rinehart Pool xii. 111 He has a sort of heavy date here with a girl called Janey. 1959 ‘M. Neville’ Sweet Night for Murder vii. 76 Duncan was making a very heavy pass at Cathy. 1960 ‘M. Caine’ S Man 126 What is called ‘heavy petting’ in which frank exploration of each other's bodies is permitted. 1968 M. Richler Cocksure xviii. 111 His thirteen-year-old daughter was the only girl in the fifth form to stop at..heavy petting. 1972 Daily Tel. 29 Jan. 2/6 Heavy petting between boys and girls is not discouraged and intercourse is described in some detail. |
IV. Having the aspect, effect, sound, etc. of heaviness.
14. a. Of the sky, clouds, etc.: Overcast with dark clouds; lowering, gloomy.
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 89 Thee welken is heauye. 1596 Bp. W. Barlow Three Serm. Ded. 82 Who so obserued our heauie heauens. 1876 Mrs. Alexander Her Dearest Foe I. 304 A mild, heavy day. |
b. fig.,
esp. in
phr. to make heavy weather of: to make (unnecessary) fuss or labour over.
| 1915 [see weather n. 2 c]. 1955 Times 21 July 8/5 The Geneva conference ran into heavy weather this morning, but made some ground later. 1957 Listener 24 Oct. 664/1 He makes rather heavy weather of the difference. 1960 V. Gielgud To Bed at Noon i. xii. 92 Aren't you making rather heavy weather out of nothing? |
15. Having comparatively much thickness or substance; thick, coarse; also, massive in conformation or outline; wanting in gracefulness, lightness, elegance, or delicacy.
heavy face (
type): see
face n. 22.
| 1818 Scott Rob Roy vi, The good humour and content which was expressed in their heavy features. Ibid. xix, We feel that its appearance is heavy, yet that the effect produced would be destroyed were it lighter or more ornamental. 1859 Jephson Brittany v. 54 The church, like most of the purely monastic buildings..is heavy. 1886 F. L. Shaw Col. Cheswick's Camp. I. x. 217 With heavy renaissance porch and wide spreading flight of granite steps. 1891 [see face n. 22]. a 1898 Mod. The heavy lines of the drawing. Make a heavier stroke. His handwriting is heavy and clumsy. 1898 J. Southward Mod. Printing I. xxii. 140 The first would be called a light face, and the second a heavy face. |
16. Having a sound like that made by a weighty object; loud and deep.
| 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. i, The deep-mouthed blood⁓hound's heavy bay Resounded up the rocky way. 1819 Shelley Julian 97 Listen well If you hear not a deep and heavy bell. 1845 Hawkstone (1846) I. xxvii. 383 One heavy tramp he could hear close at his side. |
† 17. a. Of an accent:
= grave.
Obs.| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. vi[i]. (Arb.) 92 To the lowest and most base because it seemed to fall downe rather then to rise vp, they gaue the name of the heauy accent. |
b. Of a line in Old English verse: containing more than the normal number of stressed elements. Also, more generally,
opp. to
light a.
1 12.
| 1893 J. Lawrence Chapt. Allit. Verse 46 Verses with double alliteration are as a rule heavier than those with single. 1948 Mod. Philol. XLVI. 81 These heavy and extra-heavy verses, are the exceptions. 1958 A. J. Bliss Metre of Beowulf 8 There are also many verses which contain three stressed elements instead of the normal two: blæd {vb} wide {vb} sprang 18 b... All verses of this kind are here termed ‘heavy’ verses. |
V. Having the slow or dull action of what is weighty.
18. Of persons, their qualities, etc.: Ponderous and slow in intellectual processes; wanting in facility, vivacity, or lightness;
† slow of understanding, inapprehensive, dull, stupid (
obs.).
| c 1300 Cursor M. 27789 (Cott. Galba) Slewth..makes a man lath for to lere, And heuy in hert sarmon to here. 1340 Ayenb. 31 Þe man is zuo heui þet ne loueþ bote to ligge and resti and slepe. a 1400–50 Alexander 2708 Bot parde, þi prouidence impossible it semes, A heuy As to be houyn vp to þe sternes. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 144 Oh heauy ignorance: thou praisest the worst best. 1667 Pepys Diary (1877) V. 71 The heaviest man in the country. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, A heavy Fellow, a dull Blockish Slug. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 132 ¶1 A Set of heavy honest Men, with whom I have passed many Hours with much Indolence. 1873 Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. 259 If there is anything worse..it is a heavy man when he fancies he is being facetious. |
19. Acting or moving slowly, clumsily, or with difficulty; wanting in briskness or alacrity; slow, sluggish; unwieldy.
a. of material objects.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 5572 With heuy hedis and hoge as horses it were. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. 79 Of them..we haue ouer many, wych altogyddur make our polytyke body vnweldy and heuy, and, as hyt were, to be greuyd wyth grosse humorys. 1595 Shakes. John iii. iii. 43 If that surly spirit melancholy Had bak'd thy bloud, and made it heauy, thicke. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. (1677) 214 More creese than the Lanner, and more heavy and sluggish in her flight. a 1700 Dryden Pyth. Phil. Wks. 1808 XII. 221 His heels too heavy, and his head too light. 1808 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. IV. 45, I understand that some of the transports you have with you are heavy sailers. 1844 Mrs. Browning Brown Rosary ii. 77 He flapped his heavy wing all brokenly and weak. 1962 Which? (Car Suppl.) Oct. 117/1 The Riley 4/72's steering was somewhat heavy and imprecise. Ibid. 119/2 The Ford Taunus foot brake was not too heavy at 30 mph but needed a great deal of pressure for gentle stops at 60 mph. |
b. of abstract things.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 375 The heauy gate [gait] of night. 1595 ― John iv. i. 47 Still and anon cheer'd vp the heauy time. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. To Rdr., The diversion of some of my idle and heavy Hours. 1816 Byron Parisina xx, Sleepless nights and heavy days. |
c. Time is said
to lie heavy or
hang heavy, when its passage seems slow and tedious.
| 1703 Farquhar Inconstant v. iii, My time lies heavy on my hands. 1794 Mann in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 444 My time does not hang heavy on my hands. 1833 Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere 65 If Time be heavy on your hands, Are there no beggars at your gate, Nor any poor about your lands? |
d. Of market conditions.
| 1831 Lincoln Herald 30 Sept. 1 The oat trade is heavy, and this grain may be quoted full 1s. per qr. under our last quotation. 1843 Times 20 May 7/3 The English securities were heavy again to-day. 1935 Economist 2 Feb. 261/2 Japanese bonds were heavy. 1962 S. Strand Marketing Dict. 339 Heavy market, a market of declining prices. |
e. heavy going: see
going vbl. n. 4 a.
20. a. Of things,
esp. artistic or literary productions: Wanting in vivacity; dull; ponderous; tedious, uninteresting.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 533 Polygnotus the Thasian..represented much variety of countenance, far different from the rigorous and heauy looke of the visage beforetime. 1638 F. Junius Paint. of Ancients 61 Without such a force of phantasie the whole labour of their braines will be but a heavie, dull, and life-lesse piece of worke. 1708 Swift Remarks Wks. 1883 VIII. 111 It may still be a wonder how so heavy a book..should survive to three editions. 1846 Wright Ess. Mid. Ages II. xix. 257 The longer poems..of the first half of the fourteenth century are dull and heavy. 1863 Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. xv. 383 This play..has been denominated a ‘heavy one’, which means that it is not distinguished by various and rapid action, or abrupt and startling incident. |
b. Of newspapers, journals, etc.: serious, addressed to the serious-minded.
| 1874 Trollope Way we live Now (1875) I. xxx. 187 Old Splinter,..who had written for the heavy quarterlies any time this last forty years, professed that he saw through the article. 1967 Listener 7 Dec. 743/1 The editors of the heavy dailies. |
c. orig. in Jazz and popular music, used in various senses to designate something profound, serious, etc.
colloq.| 1937 B. Goodman This Thing called Swing 9 Mugging heavy: soft swing with a heavy beat. 1940 Swing July 17 Very fast semi-boogie blues in Gabriel with nasty, heavy off-beat drumming. 1958 Blesh & Janis They all played Ragtime vi. 117 Victory Rag, a ‘heavy’ number of great difficulty, went on the market in 1921. 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene xiv. 261 Jazz is not simply an ordinary music, light or heavy. 1969 Rolling Stone 28 June 38/4 Bass player wanted for heavy blues-rock band. 1969 It 4–17 July 10/2 The Rolling Stones..are well supported by such swingin' outfits as..the very heavy Third Ear Band. 1970 Time 17 Aug. 32 Marcuse is heavy stuff. 1971 It 2–16 June 2/1 The Bournemouth drug squad (reputed to be one of the heaviest squads in the country). 1972 Last Whole Earth Catalog (Portola Inst.) 30/1 Not heavy stuff about what is terrible or what should happen, but how to remake life and stay alive in the process. 1972 Southerly XXXII. 101 We talk about this and that and where's the heavy dope scene now. |
d. heavy metal, a type of loud, vigorous rock music characterized by the use of electronically amplified instruments (typically guitar, bass, and drums), a heavy (
usu. fast) beat, intense or spectacular performance, and often a clashing, harsh musical style; formerly identified with
hard rock. Freq.
attrib. or as adj. phr.| [1964 W. S. Burroughs Nova Express 66 At this point we got a real break in the form of a defector from The Nova Mob: Uranian Willy The Heavy Metal Kid.] [1968 M. Bonfire Born to be Wild (sheet music) 2, I like smoke and lightning, Heavy metal thunder.] 1973 Crawdaddy Nov. 81/2 They find no comfort in glitter or Heavy Metal – Black Sabbath, Black Oak Arkansas and their ilk. 1975 Carr & Tyler Beatles 76 By far the best of the four [songs] was Lennon's heavy-metal ‘Hey, Bulldog’. 1976 New Musical Express 17 Apr. 14/5 The superb ‘Action’..easily the strongest piece of commercialized heavy-metal to appear throughout 1975. 1977 Rolling Stone 13 Jan. 5/2 Heavy metal kings Black Sabbath inspire some of the most rabid followers in all of rock fandom. 1980 Daily Mirror 10 Apr. 12/2 The names of Heavy Metal groups like Deep Purple and Motorhead are inscribed on the back of his leather jacket. 1985 Sounds 27 July 29/4 It's a strange and dangerous music, this heavy metal. 1986 Daily News (N.Y.) 23 May 36/3 It's not Sergio Valente Queens, it's heavy metal, but very polite. They wear stiletto heels and all that hair. |
21. a. In
Theatrical phr.: Sober, serious; relating or pertaining to the representation of sombre or tragic parts; as
heavy villain,
heavy business.
| 1814 Jane Austen Mansf. Park I. xv. 301 ‘Anhalt’ is a heavy part. 1823 Drama IV. 209 Mr. Hillington takes the heavy line of business. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey v. xii, The regular dramatic performance was thought too heavy a business for the evening. a 1828 J. Bernard Retrosp. Stage (1830) I. 13 The Company consisted of a heavy man, who played the tyrants in tragedy. 1833 R. Dyer 9 Yrs. of Actor's Life 237 This gentleman possesses natural requisite and acquired talents of the first order in heavy tragedy. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxii, I played the heavy children when I was eighteen months old. 1858 H. J. Byron Maid & Magpie 35 Such a heavy villin. 1860 G. Vandenhoff Dramatic Rem. 176 There was no heavy lady for the Emilias and Lady Macbeths. 1868 Helps Realmah viii. (1876) 230 As the heavy villain at the Surrey Theatre would say. 1870 T. A. Brown Hist. Amer. Stage 54/1 In California she played all lines of business, from walking ladies to heavy, and juvenile leading. 1884 [see lead n.2 7]. 1885 W. C. Day Behind Footlights 113 Practising attitudes before the cheval glass we have the heavy gentleman, chronic villain of the footlights. 1901 C. Morris Life on Stage 40 Then came the leading lady, the first old woman (who was sometimes the heavy woman). 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 151/2 Heavy merchant, man who plays the villain. 1941 Picturegoer 26 July 6/1 John [Barrymore] started off in heavy drama. |
b. Also, ponderously dignified; stern, repressive, unbending:
esp. heavy father,
heavy uncle, which are also used as
attrib. phrases (
= sternly paternal or avuncular).
orig. Theatrical slang.| 1849 Thackeray Pendennis I. xxix. 281 Those parts in the drama, which we called the heavy fathers. 1853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green v. 42 He took an affectionate farewell of his son, somewhat after the manner of the ‘heavy fathers’ of the stage. 1858 H. J. Byron Maid & Magpie 4 A Fine Specimen of the good old Heavy Father of Melodrama. 1864 H. Morley Jrnl. (1866) 339 A heavy father in broad farce. 1898 Rider Haggard Doctor Therne iii, Sir John..received me in his best ‘heavy-father’ manner. 1931 Daily Express 31 Jan. 15/2 The heavy uncle attitude. 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Aug. 613/4 The Venetian Pantalone becomes the Atellane ‘heavy father’ Pappus. 1956 ‘M. Westmacott’ Burden ii. iii. 83 Really, Laura dear, you might be at least fifty. A heavy Victorian father rather than a sister. |
VI. That weighs or presses hardly or sorely on the senses or feelings.
† 22. a. Of persons: Oppressive; troublesome, annoying; angry; severe, violent.
Obs.| c 825 Vesp. Psalter liv. 4 [lv. 3] Onhældon in mec unrehtwisnisse and in eorre hefie werun me. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) liv. [lv.] 3 Wurdon me þa on yrre yfele and hefiᵹe. 1382 Wyclif Luke xviii. 5 Netheles for this widowe is heuy [gloss, or diseseful] to me, I schal venge hir. 1388 Ibid. xi. 7 Nyle thou be heuy to me. c 1400 Destr. Troy 12320 Eneas with anger was angardly heuy With Antenor the traytor. 1452 in Paston Lett. I. Introd. 72, I..am informed that the King, my sovereign lord, is my heavy lord, greatly displeased with me. 1476 Sir J. Paston Ibid. No. 771 III. 153 It is demyd that my lady wolde herafftr be the rather myn hevy lady ffor that delyng. 1579–80 North Plutarch (1676) 902 Above all others Fabius Maximus was his heavy Enemy. 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 38 You would have been no less heavy to the confederates than we. 1703 J. Logan in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 225 Who groan to find their deliverer prove so heavy. |
† b. heavy friend: a troublesome or evil friend; an enemy. So
heavy father.
Obs.| c 1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) F iij, If this ioconde person would alter his visage, And counterfayt in chere an heauy father sage. 1554 in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. xxiii. 193 Sir, I perceive that thou art my heavy friend. 1600 Holland Livy xlii. xiv. 1124 He..was an heavier friend unto Asia than Antiochus had bene. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xx. §4 Some..thinke him to haue beene an heauy Father to the Common-wealth. 1621 Molle Camerar. Liv. Libr. i. iii. 8 This woman while she liued was an heauie friend of mine. |
c. heavy man: a criminal or law-breaker.
U.S. slang.| 1926 J. Black You can't Win xx. 302 It was the kind of safe that discouraged the ‘heavy man’ (safe breaker). 1963 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. (ed. 4) 730 Heavy man, one transporting narcotics. |
23. Hard to bear, endure, or withstand; oppressive, grievous, sore; distressful.
| a 1000 Laws ælfred i. c. 49 §3 (Schmid) Þæt ure ᵹeferan sume..eow hefiᵹran [wisan budan] to healdanne. c 1200 Ormin 1442 Harrd and hefiȝ pine. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4583 Þe days þat er ille and hevy. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 239/1 Hevy and grevows, gravis. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. xi. 21 My hauie hap and piteous plicht. 1592 Timme 10 Eng. Lepers D ij, Wherewithall they carie the heavie vengeance of God. 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. vi. 143 Ile..endure Your heauiest Censure. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 103 Who for the shame Don to his Father, heard this heavie curse. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 145 Let. p. 2 [They] hold their own Slaves in the heaviest Bondage. 1844 Mem. Babylonian P'cess II. 46 Universally regarded as a heavy calamity. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset I. xl. 349 The world has been very heavy on him. |
24. a. Hard to perform or accomplish; requiring much exertion; laborious, toilsome.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2565 For al ðat swinc heui & sor. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. Prol., Curio[u]s enditing and hard sentence is ful heuy atones for swich a child to lerne. 1577–87 Holinshed Scot. Chron. (1805) II. 288 Certain factious persons did beat into their ears, how heavie a journie that would be unto them. 1611 Bible Exod. xviii. 18 This thing is too heauy for thee; thou art not able to performe it thy selfe alone. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 537 The work, he said, was heavy; but it must be done. 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. v. 170 The day had been a heavy one. |
b. heavy-duty (see
duty 6), used
attrib., of a machine, material, etc., designed to deal with heavy materials or to be suitable to stand up to hard wear. Also
transf.| 1914 Engineering 4 Dec. 670/2 (caption) Heavy-Duty Drilling-Machine. 1935 Discovery July 202/1 Fireproof materials can be substituted for practically every form of heavy duty cloth. 1958 Listener 20 Nov. 839/3 The heavy-duty rubber tyre. 1964 English Studies XLV. 426 Special attention has been given to ‘heavy-duty’ words such as have. 1969 Computers & Humanities III. 137 A stand-alone device which consists of a magnetic tape unit, keyboard, and heavy-duty selectric typewriter. |
25. a. Causing or occasioning sorrow; distressing, grievous, saddening; sad, sorrowful.
| c 1374 Chaucer Compl. Mars 12 The glad nyght ys worthe an heuy morowe. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 492 Your departyng is so hevy to me that I trowe I shall deye for sorow. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 626 Where he without great solempnitie kept a heavie Christmasse. 1600 Holland Livy 1241 These proved in effect to be unfortunate and heavie presages [auspicia tristia] unto Mancinus. 16.. Chevy Chase ii. 19 in Percy's Reliq., It was a hevy syght to se. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. x, This was a heavy piece of news to my nephew. 1827 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 30 To the great body of mankind this were heavy news. |
† b. heavy hill: the ascent to Tyburn; the way to the gallows.
Obs.| 1577 Gascoigne Arraignm. Lover in Brit. Bibl. (1810) I. 76 Thou must go hence to Heavy Hill; And there be hang'd all but the head. 1678 Dryden Kind Keeper iv. i, I saw you follow him up the heavy hill to Tyburn. |
26. Oppressive to the bodily sense; overpowering.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Ninian 702, And vaknit as of hewy slepe. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 583 His Eyes with heavy Slumber overcast. 1845 A. M. Hall Whiteboy ii. 9 The heavy smell of the oil. Mod. The poppy has a heavy smell. |
VII. Weighed down mentally or physically.
27. a. ‘Weighed down’ with sorrow or grief; sorrowful, sad, grieved, despondent.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 12625 Wit heui hert and druppand chere. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 18 He felt him heuy & ferly seke. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 400 Tho sorowede alle the Citesyns And were full hevy than. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7369 Þe bischop semed to be heuy, þe kirke was left sa unsemely. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 87 Consyderyng some persones to be iocunde and mery, some sadde and heuy. 1634 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 113 Her husband is absent and I think she will be heavy. 1725 Pope Odyss. ix. 117 With heavy hearts we labour thro' the tyde, To coasts unknown, and oceans yet untry'd. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 1284 For this most gentle maiden's death Right heavy am I. 1863 F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia 34 With a heart heavy enough. |
b. Expressing or indicative of grief, doleful.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 342 Heui murnunge. c 1275 XI Pains of Hell 170 in O.E. Misc. 216 Poule he weppid with heue chere. 14.. Hoccleve Min. Poems (1892) 67, I walkid..Besyde a groue in an heuy musynge. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 217 Then answered he with heavie chere: alas, alas, am not I here in prison, and at your owne will? 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 82 With flouds of teares abundantly running down their heavie countenances. 1827 Pollok Course T. ii, Who farther sings, must change the pleasant lyre To heavy notes of woe. |
28. ‘Weighed down’ by sleep, weariness, or some physical depression or incapacity; hence,
esp. weary from sleep, sleepy, drowsy.
| 1382 Wyclif Exod. xvii. 12 The hoondes of Moyses weren heuy. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 885 Thisbe, On hire he caste hise hevy dedly eyen. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 239/1 Hevy a-slepe.., sompnolentus. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxvi. 43 He..founde them aslepe agayne. For there eyes were hevy. 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 152 And stole upon the heavie prince, That slumbring long had byn. 1620 Venner Via Recta v. 86 It will make the head heauy by repleating it with vapors. 1760 C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) II. 247, I thought I had overslept myself—I am so heavy. 1843 Hood Song of Shirt i, With fingers weary and worn, With eyelids heavy and red. |
VIII. Transferred from action to agent.
29. That does what is expressed heavily (in various senses).
| 1816 Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 181 The heavy betters began to quake at this change of things. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) II. viii. 305 To pardon so heavy an offender. 1884 Sword & Trowel Jan. 25, I have been a very heavy drinker. 1887 A. C. Gunter Mr. Barnes of N.Y. (1888) 95 Miss Anstruther..returns to the hotel a heavy loser. 1888 Gardening 25 Feb. 712/2 A heavy cropper and a good table Potato. |
IX. 30. In other specialized uses (chiefly technical from I):
heavy bag, a punch-bag;
heavy-clay,
lit. (see 9);
fig. an agricultural labourer;
heavy drawer, in coining, a drawer into which coins exceeding the standard weight are dropped;
heavy drift-ice,
heavy ice (see
quot.);
heavy-earth = baryta;
heavy franc, name given to the new franc, equivalent to 100 old francs, introduced in France in 1960;
heavy gunner,
fig. = heavy swell;
heavy mineral (see
quot. 1971);
heavy oil, any oil of high specific gravity,
orig. such an oil obtained from the distillation of coal-tar (
cf. dead oil s.v. dead a. D. 2);
heavy pine, a name of the
Pinus ponderosa;
heavy-sizing,
-wood (see
quots.);
heavy sugar U.S. slang, ‘big money’ (see
sugar n. 2 c);
heavy swell colloq. (with pun on
heavy swell in sense 8), a man of showy or impressive appearance; one dressed in the height of fashion;
heavy-wooded pine, the western yellow pine,
Pinus ponderosa.
| 1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting 41 Canvas or leather ‘dummy bag’—sometimes known as the ‘*heavy bag’. |
| 1869 Daily News 8 Sept., These unfortunate *heavy-clays never dream of bettering their condition. |
| 1887 Pall Mall G. 2 June 5/1 Should the coin being weighed prove too heavy, the pan into which it falls goes down, and the coin slips into a ‘*heavy’ drawer. |
| 1958 Times 29 Dec. 6/4 (headline) The ‘*Heavy’ Franc...A new monetary unit is to be created [in France] worth 100 francs. It will be introduced gradually during the next 12 months. 1959 Observer 11 Oct. 3/8 The new ‘heavy franc’, which officially comes into use next January. |
| 1890 Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 136 We can always find out and trace our ‘*heavy gunners’. |
| 1835 Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. Explan. Terms p. xv, *Heavy-ice, that which has a great depth in proportion, and not in a state of decay. |
| 1893 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 3) ii. ii. 129 These *heavy minerals constitute sometimes as much as 4 per cent of the Bagshot sand. 1939 Proc. Prehist. Soc. V. 109 A heavy-mineral analysis of a sample of the sand. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth xiii. 166/2 Rather more satisfactory from the point of view of recognising parent rocks is the presence of a small proportion (often less than 1%) of what are known as ‘heavy minerals’. These have a greater specific gravity than the common minerals quartz and feldspar (hence the name), and are separated by breaking up the rocks and floating off the lighter minerals in a heavy liquid (bromo⁓form, S.G. 2.89 is commonly used). Assemblages of heavy minerals may be characteristic of certain groups of parent rocks. |
| 1849 *Heavy oil [see dead oil s.v. dead a. D. 2]. 1913 V. B. Lewes Oil Fuel 129 The heavy tar oil, or ‘creosote oil’ forms a fairly good liquid fuel. The specific gravity is usually in the neighbourhood of 1.1, hence its name of ‘heavy-oil’, being heavier than water. Ibid. 180 Heavy oil engines. 1936 Discovery Feb. 37 Locomotives driven by heavy oil and electricity. |
| 1880 Nature XXI. 299 Unscrupulous manufacturers introduced the practice of ‘*heavy-sizing’—that is, in plain terms, of substituting cheap mineral substances for cotton. |
| 1926 Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 9/2 *Heavy sugar papa, sweet old man with fat purse. 1928 Flynn's 4 Feb. 437/1 Johns with heavy sugar. |
| 1819 *Heavy swell [see swell n. 9 a]. 1830 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) II. 60 The people at Melton..asking ‘Who's that heavy swell?’ 1883 B. M. Croker Pretty Miss Neville xlii. (1884) 385 You ought to make a good match, you know, and marry some heavy swell with heaps of coin. |
| 1884 Miller Plant-n., Baroxylon rufum, Red *Heavy-wood. |
| 1836 P. & C. Lawson Agriculturalist's Manual 354 Pinus ponderosa—*Heavy Wooded Pine... Introduced by Mr. Douglas from the west coast of North America in 1828. 1858 J. A. Warder Hedges & Evergreens ii. 250 Pinus ponderosa, or Heavy-wooded Pine, has leaves from nine inches to a foot long. 1866 ‘Senilis’ Pinaceæ 125 Pinus Ponderosa: The Heavy-Wooded Pine. Introduced from North America nearly forty years ago. 1923 Dallimore & Jackson Handbk. Coniferæ 437 Pinus ponderosa, Douglas. Western Yellow Pine... Big Pine; Bull Pine; Heavy Pine; Heavy-wooded Pine. |
31. Comb., mostly parasynthetic, unlimited in number, as
heavy-armed, -handed, etc.; also
heavy-blossomed,
heavy-browed,
† heavy-cheered,
heavy-eyed,
heavy-faced,
heavy-fisted,
heavy-footed,
heavy-framed,
heavy-fruited,
heavy-heeled,
heavy-jawed,
heavy-jowled,
heavy-lidded (so
heavy-liddedness),
heavy-limbed,
heavy-lipped,
heavy-mettled,
heavy-mouthed,
heavy-paced,
heavy-priced,
heavy-scented,
heavy-set,
heavy-shotted,
heavy-shuttered,
heavy-tailed,
heavy-winged,
heavy-witted, etc.; also
heavy-looking,
heavy-seeming.
heavy-faced, having a heavy face (see
face n. 22 and sense 15 above);
heavy-timbered, (
a) thickly furnished with growing trees; (
b) large-limbed.
| 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 163 Droops the *heavy-blossom'd bower, hangs the *heavy-fruited tree. |
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 2 *Heuy-chered I ȝede and elynge in herte. |
| 1917 F. S. Henry Printing for School & Shop vii. 90 *Heavy-faced types are appropriate in printed matter for the iron and steel industry. |
| 1625 Gill Sacr. Philos. viii. 116 As fast as our *heavy-footed reason can follow our faith. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xvii, The great awkward heavy-footed maidservant. 1957 T. Gunn Sense of Movement 13 Here is a room with heavy-footed chairs. |
| 1898 Daily News 14 Mar. 7/2 A *heavy-framed colt. a 1963 J. Fountain in B. James Austral. Short Stories (1963) 2nd Ser. 274 His heavy-framed bike loaded with packages. |
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. ii. 15 Let..*heauie-gated Toades lye in their way. |
| 1688 Bunyan Heavenly Footman (1886) 146 What, do ye think that every *heavy-heeled professor will have heaven? |
| 1944 A. L. Rowse Eng. Spirit 88 That earlier Tudor type..clean-shaven and *heavy-jowled. |
| 1919 V. Woolf Night & Day xxvii. 390 Camels slanted their *heavy-lidded eyes at her. 1961 New Yorker 25 Feb. 129/1, I remember experiencing spells of heavy-liddedness during a fairly recent stage presentation of this talkfest. |
| 1632 Sherwood, :*Heauie-looking, halbrenné. 1888 E. J. Goodman Too Curious iv, A dull, heavy-looking girl. |
| 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. iii. vi. 73 He seemed drousie and *heauie metled. |
| 1815 Sporting Mag. XLVI. 263 *Heavy-mouthed horses. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 4 Jan. 2/1 The *heavy-scented buds. 1908 Ibid. 7 Aug. 3/1 Never was such clover!..heavy-scented, rich, and generous. |
| 1938 D. Runyon Furthermore vii. 130 He is a *heavy-set guy. |
| 1850 Tennyson In Mem. vi, His *heavy-shotted hammock-shroud. |
| 1702 Vanbrugh False Friend i The dull, *heavy-tailed maukin melts him down with her modesty. |
| 1831 J. W. Peck Guide for Emigrants ii. 40 The wide, level, and *heavy timbered alluvions, are..unhealthy. 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harb. 7 Deep-ribbed, heavy-timbered hounds. 1903 S. E. White Conjuror's House iv. 39 The fort itself, a medley of heavy-timbered stockades and square block-houses. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 25 Aug. 7/1 A dark, heavy-timbered wood. |
B. n. [absolute use of the
adj.]
1. a. pl. heavies: heavy cavalry; the Dragoon Guards. Rarely in
sing.| 1841 Lever C. O'Malley lviii, We'd better call out the ‘heavies’ by turns. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis xlix, Have you..never happened to be listening to the band of the Heavies at Brighton? 1876 Voyle Milit. Dict. (ed. 3) 86 In the British service there are 7 regiments of heavies, viz. the dragoon guards. The weight the horse of the heavies has to carry is over 19 stone. 1895 Daily News 19 Dec. 5/3 Old soldiers..representing the Household Cavalry, the heavies, Lancers, Hussars. |
b. the heavies, the heavy artillery.
| 1908 Daily Chron. 6 Aug. 6/4 The excellent firing of the 4·7 guns by the First and Seconds (or, as they are more familiarly called, ‘the Heavies’). 1916 ‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 113 The Heavies as well as the Field guns were to bombard. 1918 E. M. Roberts Flying Fighter 57 Soon the field artillery and the ‘heavies’ woke up again. |
c. A heavy bomber.
| 1943 Time 15 Nov. 26/2 Another co-ordinated series of punches..cost the Allies only ten heavies, two Marauders and five fighters. 1944 Even. Standard 16 Dec. 1/4 Heavy bombers could be heard massing for an attack... Wave after wave of ‘heavies’ went out. 1961 W. Vaughan-Thomas Anzio viii. 164 In cold blood the heavies may not have done vital damage to the Germans forming up on the ground. |
d. the heavies, the serious newspapers, journals, etc. (see sense A. 20 b).
| 1950 C. Woodham-Smith F. Nightingale 310 In 1857 great influence was exercised by ‘the heavies’—the quarterlies and the reviews. 1962 Guardian 5 Dec. 7/4, I was reading the Sunday papers... I picked up one of the two Heavies. 1962 ‘O. Mills’ Headlines make Murder viii. 89 All three ‘heavies’, The Times, Telegraph and..Guardian. 1971 Author LXXXII. 101 The popular press, thrown off balance and uncertain of its role, lost out to the heavies and the provincials. |
2. a. A stage wagon for the conveyance of goods.
| 1847 De Quincey Schlosser's Lit. Hist. Wks. VIII. 53 The very few old heavies that had begun to creep along three or four main roads. |
b. Anything particularly large and weighty of its kind.
| 1897 Daily News 25 Nov. 5/1 Amongst the elephantine heavies is Mandarin, who killed a keeper during his last residence at Olympia. 1908 Pall Mall Gaz. 27 Mar. 12/3 Firms..which have specialised in the manufacture of ‘heavies’ [sc. motor vehicles]. 1935 Amer. Speech X. 271/1 Heavies, very heavy beef cattle, more than two years old. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 15 Mar. 6/2 Of the uncertified beasts, lightweights were more plentiful than heavies. 1965 Listener 8 Apr. 537/1 The ‘heavies’ are on the march. By 1970 there will be 120 trucks for every 100 there are now on our inadequate roads. 1968 Times 25 Oct. 25/3 (heading) 60 mph for ‘heavies’ [sc. motor vehicles]. |
c. A heavyweight boxing-match or boxer.
| 1913 J. G. B. Lynch Compl. Amat. Boxer 221, I remember in the finals of the heavies at the All-India Championship of 1909 seeing Private Clohessy..take on Bombardier Wells. 1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting 16 Top-flight heavies like Frank Moran. |
d. pl. Racing. Horses' work-shoes.
| 1930 Times 24 Mar. 4/2 It is almost impossible to tell by watching a horse walk in the parade ring whether he is plated, or whether he is carrying, to use a racing term, ‘the heavies’. |
e. A strongly built person,
usu. of violent disposition.
| 1936 [see come v. 13 d]. 1962 R. Cook Crust on its Uppers i. 22 A good solid heavy like Chas to deal with the writ-servers. 1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 194 Cherry is surrounded by threatening creatures, mostly the nightclub heavies. 1972 Catholic Herald 28 Jan. 2/5 Sit down, we want to talk to you... We are going out to get the ‘heavies’. 1973 Times 12 July 4/1 Prostitutes were threatened with ‘heavies’ working for a man named Kenny Lynch. |
3. Short for
heavy wet.
slang.| 1823 Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1824) 441 A drop of any thing beyond a pint of heavy. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke ii, Here comes the heavy. Hand it here to take the taste of that fellow's talk out of my mouth. |
4. to do the heavy: to swagger, to make a fine show.
slang.| 1884 Gd. Words June 399/2 Your ordinary thief, if he have a slice of luck, may ‘do the heavy’ while the luck lasts. |
5. esp. Theatr. Short for
heavy actor,
villain, etc.
Cf. sense A. 21.
| 1880 F. Belton Random Recoll. Old Actor viii. 132 Robertson (the celebrated author of ‘Caste’ ‘School’ etc. for ‘second heavies’). 1906 S. Ford Shorty McCabe (1908) 70 So far it's as good as playin' leading heavy in ‘The Shadows of a Great City’. 1928 Observer 22 July 15/2 The fun succumbed to a bucolic lethargy that was only partially shaken off by the retreat to Half Moon Street and the assault of the sentimental heavies. 1937 ‘C. McCabe’ Face on Cutting-room Floor vii. 53, I asked..who the man was... ‘That's Vic's new heavy.’ 1961 J. McCabe Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy (1962) ii. 49, I always played a ‘heavy’—you know, the villain. Ibid. ii. 57 The villains in those days were always called ‘heavies’. Their trade⁓mark was usually heavy eyebrows and moustache make⁓up. 1962 J. D. Salinger Franny & Zooey 143 I'm sick to death of being the heavy in everybody's life... They're as happy as pigs till I show up. I feel like those dismal bastards Seymour's beloved Chuang-tzu warned everybody against. 1966 Listener 15 Dec. 890/2 Two of the chief characters are avowed communists, and yet are not the heavies plotting to overthrow the free world. 1973 J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs i. 178 Two of the heavies dived for Tallboy. |
6. pl. The heavy trades or industries (see
heavy a. 5); also, stocks or shares in such a trade or industry.
| 1900 Westm. Gaz. 26 Jan. 11/1 Hope for the Heavies. 1902 Daily Chron. 20 May 3/6 The ratio of working expenses for the past half-year on the North British railways was 49 per cent., compared with 65 per cent., or more, on the four ‘heavies’. 1922 Daily Tel. 12 June 2/3 The prices of the other comparable ‘heavies’—Great Western and London and North-Western—have also gone ahead. |
▸
heavy cream n. orig. U.S. a type of (whipping) cream with an especially high fat content;
cf. double cream n. at
double adj.1 and
adv. Compounds 1,
light cream n. at
light adj.2 Additions.
| 1895 N.Y. Times 28 July 21/1 Most city dairies sell two grades of cream, which they call light and heavy; as a rule, the *heavy cream should be used for ice cream. 2005 G. Stella Livin' Low Carb 228 With an electric mixer on high speed, whip the heavy cream until just frothy. |
▸
heavy hitter n. orig. U.S. = big hitter n. at
big adj. and
adv. Special uses 2.
| 1874 Chicago Daily Tribune 31 May 16/4 It [sc. a livelier ball] would give their *heavy hitters a better opportunity to display their strength. 1922 A. O. Barton La Follette's Winning of Wisconsin xxxi. 448 Chynoweth, his undaunted, immovable legal adviser and heavy hitter, is there. 1936 Times 29 Oct. 5/6 Lenham..is a heavy hitter and a useful boxer for a big man. 1991 Entertainm. Weekly 14 June 31/1 Imagine a baseball season with only a few heavy hitters signed and the winningest pitchers off playing golf. 2004 Independent (Tabloid ed.) 25 Feb. (Review section) 6/1 The general manager..describes some heavy hitters from his 21st-century client list: City of London brokers, foreign royalty, big-time gamblers. |
▪ II. heavy, a.2 (
ˈhiːvɪ)
[f. heave n. 3 + -y.] Of a horse: Suffering from the heaves.
| 1864 in Webster, and in mod. Dicts. |
▪ III. heavy, adv. (
ˈhɛvɪ)
[OE. hefiᵹe = OHG. hebîgo, hevîgo; f. hefiᵹ heavy a.] = heavily adv. 1. In a heavy manner; with weight,
lit. and
fig.; ponderously; massively; burdensomely, oppressively.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lvii[i]. 2 Forþan ðæs wite eft, on eowre handa, hefiᵹe ᵹeeode. a 1225 Ancr. R. 32 Heo liggeð mid iren heuie iveotered. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 426 Hewy cled in to plait off maill. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. lxxviii. 158 b, The Boates went verye heavie laden with theyr furniture. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 383 Holding their hands heavie over such as shewed themselves repugnant. 1611 Bible Isa. xlvi. 1 Your carriages were heauie loaden. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 17 Lean heavy upon it. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. 1808 V. 403 The least likely to lean heavy on the active capital employed. 1828 Southey Ess. (1832) II. 231 The mortality..fell heaviest upon the poor. |
2. With laborious movement; slowly, sluggishly; laboriously.
| 1701 Lond. Gaz. No. 3715/4 Stolen..a sorrel Gelding..trots heavy. 1798 Nelson 7 Sept. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) III. 116 The Culloden sails so heavy, by having a sail under her bottom in order to stop her leak. 1803 Naval Chron. X. 157 The third [boat], from rowing heavy, did not get up. |
† 3. With displeasure or anger. See also
bear heavy,
bear v.
1 16.
Obs.| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 359 Many men þenken ful hevy wiþ þis sentence. 1382 ― Mark x. 14 Whom whanne Jhesus hadde seyn, he baar heuye. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas v. xxv. (1554) 138 b, Hatefull also to euery creature, And heauy borne of worthy kynges three. c 1565 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1728) 38 The king took very heavy with this high contempt. |
† 4. Gravely, seriously.
Obs.| 1563 Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. Wks. 1888 I. 106 Thai hef failȝeit hauelie..and ȝe fer hauiar. |
5. Now chiefly hyphened to participles which it qualifies. See also
heavy-laden.
| 1553 Brende Q. Curtius 133 (R.) Dimichas y{supt} were foote⁓men, heauye-harnised, but yet rydyng on horsebacke. 1669 Dryden Tyran. Love iv. i, Gross, heavy-fed..And shotted all without. 1836–48 B. D. Walsh Aristoph., Clouds i. iv, The pipe's heavy-echoing booming. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack x, A heavy-pulling boat. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xv. 37 A large, heavy-moulded fellow. 1885 Howells Silas Lapham (1891) I. i. 45 Lapham's idea of hospitality was..to bring a heavy-buying customer home to pot-luck. |
▪ IV. † heavy, v. Obs. Forms: 1
hefiᵹian,
hefeᵹian, 3
heuegy,
heueȝi, 3–4
heuien, 4–6
hevie,
-ye, (5
euye), 6
heauy,
Sc. hewie.
[OE. hefiᵹian, hefeᵹian = OHG. hevîgôn:—OTeut. *heƀigôjan, f. *heƀigo-, OE. hefiᵹ heavy a.] 1. trans. To make heavy, burdensome, or oppressive.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xxxi[i]. 4 Deᵹes and naehtes ᵹehefeᵹad is ofer me hond ðin. a 1300 E.E. Psalter ibid., For over me, bathe dai and night, Hevied es þi hand of might. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 239/1 Hevyyn, or makyn hevy in wyghte, gravo, aggravo, pondero. |
2. To weigh down; to burden; to oppress, grieve, distress.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. liv. 419 Se hund wile aspiwan ðone mete ðe hine hefiᵹað on his breostum. c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxi. [xix.] (1890) 320 Heo wæs eft hefiᵹad mid þæm ærrum sarum. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 43 Soðlice heora eaᵹan wæron ᵹehefeᵹode. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 79 Þe fule lustes heuien þe sowle. 1382 Wyclif 2 Sam. xiv. 26 Onys in the ȝeer he was doddid, for the heere heuyde [1388 greuede] him. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. xlix. (1869) 30 It is not matere of wratthe; it shulde not heuy yow of no thing. 1465 Paston Lett. No. 508 II. 200 Thei had hevyed the peple that dwelle ther and that gretly. 1553 Gau Richt Vay 62 Cum to me al ȝe quhilk ar hewit (that is with sine). 1581 Mulcaster Positions xx. (1887) 88 Darke and cloudie aire heauyeth. |
3. intr. To grow heavy or weighty.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxi. 163 Hu sio byrðen wiexþ and hefeᵹaþ. c 1305 St. Christopher 96 in E.E.P. (1862) 62 Eueree as he bar þis child: hit gan to heuye faste. |
4. To become heavy through weariness or grief.
| a 1000 Guthlac 956 in Exeter Bk. lf. 46 b, Leomu hefeᵹedon, sarum ᵹesohte. c 1275 Lay. 18408 Nou non hii solle heueȝi and suþþe hii solle sleape. 1382 Wyclif Mark xiv. 33 He..bigan for to drede, and to heuye [1388 be anoyed]. |