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heavyweight

[hev-ee-weyt]
See more synonyms for heavyweight on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. heavy in weight.
  2. of more than average weight or thickness: a coat of heavyweight material.
  3. noting or pertaining to a boxer, wrestler, etc., of the heaviest competitive class, especially a professional boxer weighing more than 175 pounds (79.4 kg).
  4. of or relating to the weight class or division of such boxers: a heavyweight bout.
  5. (of a riding horse, especially a hunter) able to carry up to 205 pounds (93 kg).
  6. designating a person, company, nation, or other entity that is extremely powerful, influential, or important: a team of heavyweight lawyers.
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noun
  1. a person of more than average weight.
  2. a heavyweight boxer or wrestler.
  3. a person, company, nation, or other entity that is powerful and influential: a price hike initiated by the heavyweights in the industry.
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Origin of heavyweight

First recorded in 1850–55; heavy + weight
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for heavyweight

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Is this the lady that's entered for the heavyweight Juliet championship?

    Torchy

    Sewell Ford

  • Better put two more on you, Buster, because youre a heavyweight, you know.

  • The heavyweight pursuer could not get nearer than half a dozen paces.

    Average Jones

    Samuel Hopkins Adams

  • He had received a bit the worst of it in the heavyweight bout.

    The A.E.F.

    Heywood Broun

  • He has not worn an overcoat or heavyweight flannels for six years.

British Dictionary definitions for heavyweight

heavyweight

noun
  1. a person or thing that is heavier than average
    1. a professional boxer weighing more than 175 pounds (79 kg)
    2. an amateur boxer weighing more than 81 kg (179 pounds)
    3. (as modifier)the world heavyweight championship
  3. a wrestler in a similar weight category (usually over 214 pounds (97 kg))
  4. informal an important or highly influential person
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for heavyweight

noun and adj., 1857 of horses; 1877 of fighters; from heavy + weight. Figuratively, of importance, from 1928.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper