heavy lifting

American  

[hev-ee lif-ting] / ˈhɛv i ˈlɪf tɪŋ /

noun

Informal.

1. hard work.

   A team of researchers did the heavy lifting for the author.

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Etymology

Origin of heavy lifting

First recorded in 1930–35

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

heavy lifting

You could argue that should place him higher, but those above him on this list have done some heavy lifting, too.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

All in all, I do only about 20% of the heavy lifting, a division of labor perfectly agreeable to us both.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

This type of geoarbitrage offers a different possibility: Make one unconventional choice for a few of those years, then let compound growth do the heavy lifting over the rest of them.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Gone are the vivid blues and warm oranges and greens, crackling against film grain, that did so much heavy lifting for the first film’s leaden plot.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026

I don’t know where they moved the couches, but I do know they did a lot of heavy lifting to set this up for me, and that I should be more appreciative than I am.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

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