Word Direct Answers

What does "heavy" mean?

Heavy: 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.

Additional senses

  1. 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.
  2. 3.The king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make. Shak. Sent hither to impart the heavy news. Wordsworth. Trust him not in matter of heavy consequence. Shak.
  3. 4.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. Shak.
  4. 5.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. Shak. Of a heavy, dull, degenerate mind. Dryden. Neither [is] his ear heavy, that it can not hear. Is. lix.
  5. 6.5. Strong; violent; forcible; as, a heavy sea, storm, cannonade, and the like.
  6. 7.Loud; deep; -- said of sound; as, heavy thunder. But, hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more. Byron.
  7. 8.Dark with clouds, or ready to rain; gloomy; -- said of the sky.
  8. 9.Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey; -- said of earth; as, a heavy road, soil, and the like.
  9. 10.Not raised or made light; as, heavy bread.
  10. 11.Not agreeable to, or suitable for, the stomach; not easily digested; -- said of food.
  11. 12.Having much body or strength; -- said of wines, or other liquors.
  12. 13.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. Note: Heavy is used in composition to form many words which need no special explanation; as, heavy-built, heavy-browed, heavy-gaited, etc.
  13. 14., adv. Heavily; -- sometimes used in composition; as, heavy- laden.
  14. 15.To make heavy. [Obs.] Wyclif.

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