HEFT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does heft mean? 

• HEFT (noun)
  The noun HEFT has 1 sense:

1. the property of being large in mass

  Familiarity information: HEFT used as a noun is very rare.

• HEFT (verb)
  The verb HEFT has 2 senses:

1. lift or elevate

2. test the weight of something by lifting it

  Familiarity information: HEFT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HEFT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The property of being large in mass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

heft; heftiness; massiveness; ponderosity; ponderousness

Hypernyms ("heft" is a kind of...):

heaviness; weightiness (the property of being comparatively great in weight)

Derivation:

hefty (of considerable weight and size)

hefty ((of a person) possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful)

• HEFT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they heft    ... he / she / it hefts   
Past simple: hefted   
Past participle: hefted   
-ing form: hefting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lift or elevate

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

heave; heave up; heft; heft up

Hypernyms (to "heft" is one way to...):

lift (take hold of something and move it to a different location)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "heft"):

upheave (lift forcefully from beneath)

weigh anchor; weigh the anchor (heave up an anchor in preparation for sailing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Test the weight of something by lifting it

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "heft" is one way to...):

librate; weigh (determine the weight of)

"Heft" entails doing...:

lift (take hold of something and move it to a different location)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

As regards the maid, too, it is true that I did heft her over the stream, she having on her hosen and shoon, whilst I had but my wooden sandals, which could take no hurt from the water.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Dark matter itself consists of slow-moving, or cold, particles that come together to form structures ranging from hundreds of thousands of times the mass of the Milky Way galaxy to clumps no more massive than the heft of a commercial airplane. (In this context, cold refers to the particles' speed.)

(Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Find Dark Matter in Small Clumps, NASA)