heavy lifting

noun

: a burdensome or laborious duty

Examples of heavy lifting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The pair have put sustainability at the heart of this impressive operation; it's run without fossil fuels and artificial chemicals – compost and seaweed do the heavy lifting instead. Julia O'Driscoll, The Week Uk, theweek, 11 June 2024 The cartoon comparison does some heavy lifting in the verse. Justin Curto, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2024 The guardrails While those guardrails played a big role in the state’s fiscal comeback, a robust stock market and higher tax rates — ordered in the early 2010s by former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the legislature — also did a lot of the heavy lifting. Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 29 Jan. 2024 And on both nights, their fastball did the heavy lifting. Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for heavy lifting 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heavy lifting.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of heavy lifting was in 1980

Dictionary Entries Near heavy lifting

Cite this Entry

“Heavy lifting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavy%20lifting. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on heavy lifting

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