The Collaborative International Dictionary
Heavy \Heav"y\, a. [Compar. Heavier; superl. Heaviest.] [OE. hevi, AS. hefig, fr. hebban to lift, heave; akin to OHG. hebig, hevig, Icel. h["o]figr, h["o]fugr. See Heave.]
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.
-
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. -
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. -
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. Strong; violent; forcible; as, a heavy sea, storm, cannonade, and the like.
-
Loud; deep; -- said of sound; as, heavy thunder.
But, hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more.
--Byron. Dark with clouds, or ready to rain; gloomy; -- said of the sky.
Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey; -- said of earth; as, a heavy road, soil, and the like.
Not raised or made light; as, heavy bread.
Not agreeable to, or suitable for, the stomach; not easily digested; -- said of food.
Having much body or strength; -- said of wines, or other liquors.
-
With child; pregnant. [R.] Heavy artillery. (Mil.)
Guns of great weight or large caliber, esp. siege, garrison, and seacoast guns.
-
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
-
, 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.
Usage examples of "heavy artillery".
We've lost both additional heavy artillery regiments in the area, the additional special arty we were supposed to get was diverted to Chattanooga and Asheville and half our corps arty is gone.
The rumbling impact of heavy artillery to the front had been going on for nearly two minutes, meaning that the captain must have called for Final Protective Fire, but there had not been a command over the net for fire from the mortars.
We were equipped to hit and run but not to stick it out in a slugging match against forces armed with medium and heavy artillery and outnumbering us at least eight to one.
The fort had a clear field of fire, and we weren't faced by heavy artillery.
From outside came the rumble of a heavy artillery barrage and Han flinched.
Worse, the Corps had mounted out so quickly that many units barely had the basic load of ammunition required for the infantrymen's personal weapons, much less that required to supply their heavy artillery in sustained combat.
Driven by the lash of fear for the fatherland, the heavy artillery battalion did it in four and a half days.
We can see heavy artillery out there, what looks like missile launchers and mortars.
It was a job for an elite mechanized infantry unit with heavy artillery backing.