heavy lifting

noun

: a burdensome or laborious duty

Examples of heavy lifting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Delicate line drawings and spare language do the heavy lifting in this tale, whose moral (and its ending) has been dissected, debated and satirized in everything from The New Yorker to The Michigan Law Review. Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Nov. 2023 Parents has done the heavy lifting in this search by surveying 774 caregivers and parents, along with 101 of our staffers about their children’s favorite toys. Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 8 Nov. 2023 The marinade does the heavy lifting in this flavor bomb of a stew from Post contributor Domenica Marchetti. Matt Brooks, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2023 The first-round draft pick played well enough on Monday night to complement the Jets' dominant defense and special teams, who did most of the heavy lifting in defeating Buffalo, among the early Super Bowl favorites, 22-16 in overtime. David K. Li, NBC News, 12 Sep. 2023 By the 1960s the mule, which had done much of the heavy lifting in the settling of this country, had fallen into such obscurity that there were perhaps only 10,000 left in the United States. David E. Petzal, Field & Stream, 23 Aug. 2023 And, looking to the future, AI could also help with some of the heavy lifting. Barnaby Lashbrooke, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 Ideally, cheese obsessives should have two sets of cheese knives: one to show off for guests, and one to stay in the kitchen and do the heavy lifting. Devra Ferst, Bon Appétit, 10 Nov. 2023 Expect some of the heavy lifting to take place behind the scenes. Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heavy lifting.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of heavy lifting was in 1980

Dictionary Entries Near heavy lifting

Cite this Entry

“Heavy lifting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavy%20lifting. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.

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