HEAV'Y, a. hev'y.

1. Weighty; ponderous; having great weight; tending strongly to the center of attraction; contrary to light; applied to material bodies; as, a heavy stone; a heavy load.
2. Sad; sorrowful; dejected; depressed in mind. A light wife makes a heavy husband. Shak. So is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart. Prov. xxv.
3. Grievous; afflictive; depressing to the spirits; as, heavy news; a heavy calamity.
4. Burdensome; oppressive; as, heavy taxes. Make thy father's heavy yoke – lighter. 1 Kings xii.
5. Wanting life and animation; dull. My heavy eyes you say confess / A heart to love and grief inclined. Prior.
6. Drowsy; dull. Their eyes were heavy. Matth. xxvi. Luke ix.
7. Wanting spirit or animation; destitute of life or rapidity of sentiment; dull; as, a heavy writer; a heavy style.
8. Wanting activity or vivacity; indolent. But of a heavy, dull, degenerate mind. Dryden.
9. Slow; sluggish. He walks with a heavy gait.
10. Burdensome; tedious; as, heavy hours. Time lies heavy on him who has no employment.
11. Loaded; encumbered; burdened. He found his men heavy, and laden with booty. Bacon.
12. Lying with weight on the stomach; not easily digested; as, oily food is heavy to the stomach.
13. Moist; deep; soft; miry; as, heavy land; a heavy soil. We apply heavy to soft loamy or clayey land, which makes the draught of a plow or wagon difficult and laborious. So we say, a heavy road.
14. Difficult; laborious; as, a heavy draught.
15. Weary; supported with pain or difficulty. And the hands of Moses were heavy. Ex. xvii.
16. Inflicting severe evils, punishments or judgments. The hand of the Lord was heavy on them of Ashdod. 1 Sam. v.
17. Burdensome; occasioning great care. This thing is too heavy for thee. Ex. xviii.
18. Dull; not hearing; inattentive. Neither his ear heavy, that he can not hear. Is. lix.
19. Large, as billows; swelling and rolling with great force; as, a heavy sea.
20. Large in amount; as, a heavy expense; a heavy debt.
21. Thick; dense; black; as, a heavy cloud.
22. Violent; tempestuous; as, a heavy wind or gale.
23. Large; abundant; as, a heavy fall of snow or rain.
24. Great; violent; forcible; as, a heavy fire of cannon or small arms.
25. Not raised by leaven or fermentation; not light; clammy; as, heavy bread.
26. Requiring much labor or much expense; as, a heavy undertaking.
27. Loud; as, heavy thunder. Heavy metal, in military affairs, signifies large guns, carrying balls of a large size, or it is applied to large balls themselves.

With great weight; used in composition.

To make heavy. [Not in use.] Wickliffe.

1. Having the heaves.
2. 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.
3. Heavily; -- sometimes used in composition; as, heavy-laden.
4. To make heavy.
   
   
   [Obs.] Wyclif.
5. 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. 6.

   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.

6. 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.

7. 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. 1.

8. Strong; violent; forcible; as, a heavy sea, storm, cannonade, and the like.
9. Loud; deep; -- said of sound; as, heavy thunder.
   
   

   But, hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more. Byron.

10. Dark with clouds, or ready to rain; gloomy; -- said of the sky.
11. Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey; -- said of earth; as, a heavy road, soil, and the like.
12. Not raised or made light; as, heavy bread.
13. Not agreeable to, or suitable for, the stomach; not easily digested; -- said of food.
14. Having much body or strength; -- said of wines, or other liquors.
15. 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.

    * Heavy is used in composition to form many words which need no special explanation; as, heavy-built, heavy-browed, heavy-gaited, etc.