heavy hitter

American  

noun

1. a baseball player who makes many extra-base hits.

2. a very important or influential person.

   the secretary of state and other heavy hitters.

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heavy hitter British  

noun

1. informal another term for big hitter

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heavy hitter Idioms  

1. An important or influential individual or organization. For example, This publishing house is one of the heavy hitters in the textbook industry. This expression originated in sports such as boxing, where it literally meant “hitting hard,” and was transferred to other enterprises in the mid-1900s.

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Other Word Forms

• heavy-hitter adjective

Etymology

Origin of heavy hitter

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

England emptied their bench, brought on any amount of heavy hitters, but could only manage a late, late try for Earl, converted by Ford.

From BBC

"This was full of heavy hitters, guys that can draw it out but have that punch at the end," Hocker said.

From Barron's

One of the real heavy hitters when it comes to energy use in any new building, and especially in hospitals, are the water heaters.

From Los Angeles Times

Stocks of AI hyperscalers have continued to rise, but there was one glaring exception among the heavy hitters this week.

From MarketWatch

The administration has sent a string of heavy hitters to Israel this week to make sure the fighting doesn’t resume.

From The Wall Street Journal