heavy going

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Also, heavy weather.

Difficult, as in Tom found calculus heavy going, or It's going to be heavy weather for us from here on. The first expression originally referred to a road or path that was hard to negotiate; the variant alludes to bad weather at sea. [Mid-1800s]

make heavy weather of. Make hard work or a fuss over something, especially unnecessarily. For example, They made heavy weather of the differences between their proposals, which actually seemed much alike. This use of weather likens a commotion to a storm. [Mid-1900s]

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Words nearby heavy going

heavy cruiser, heavy-duty, heavy earth, heavy eye, heavy-footed, heavy going, heavy-handed, heavy hand, with a, heavy-hearted, heavy heart, with a, heavy hitter

How to use heavy going in a sentence

This is going to be the Game of Thrones of U.S. Senate races.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Music is a huge part of the tone of Black Dynamite overall—going back to the original 2009 movie on which the series is based.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical|Stereo Williams|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The questions going through my mind are: How on earth are there Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers in the heart of Paris?
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive|Ayaan Hirsi Ali|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But I think Steve Austin has to team up with a Japanese holdout to stop a nuclear bomb from going off or something.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS|Marlow Stern|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

It opens with Huckabee's dramatic recollection of going through security at the airport.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That it is a reasonable and proper thing to ask our statesmen and politicians: what is going to happen to the world?
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The policemen looked dull and heavy, as if never again would any one be criminal, and as if they had come to know it.
Bella Donna|Robert Hichens
"I don't know whether I am going to like this or not--this coming to live in town," thought the little pig.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum
Drone: the largest tube of a bag-pipe, giving forth a dull heavy tone.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
All my musical studies till now have been a mere going to school, a preparation for him.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay