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heavily

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English hevely, hevyliche, from Old English hefiġlīċe (“heavily; grievously”), equivalent to heavy +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈhɛvɪli/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adverb

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heavily (comparative more heavily, superlative most heavily)

  1. With a great weight.
    heavily burdened
    She fell heavily into bed.
    He clomped heavily up the stairs in his boots.
    The great clod trod heavily on my toes!
    • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
      The departure was not unduly prolonged. […] Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; […] ; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.
  2. To a considerable degree, to a great extent.
    He relied heavily on the data collected by the others.
    He drank heavily.
    heavily in debt;   heavily tattooed
    heavily pregnant
    • 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part I, London: Collins, →ISBN:
      An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.
  3. In a manner designed for heavy duty.
    heavily armed soldiers;   heavily armoured tanks;   heavily reinforced walls
  4. So as to be thick or heavy.
    heavily built young men;   his heavily muscled arms
  5. In a laboured manner.
    he breathed heavily

Derived terms

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Translations

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