heavy lifting

noun

: a burdensome or laborious duty

Examples of heavy lifting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
McCarthy does not have to do all of the heavy lifting. Alec Lewis, New York Times, 22 May 2025 Get your customers to sell for you instead of doing all the heavy lifting yourself. Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025 This path would require a lot of time, money and heavy lifting from both Couchbase and the activist, likely involving Irenic securing board representation followed by years of collaboration and restructuring. Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 17 May 2025 The Disney networks did much of the heavy lifting in the first round, as deliveries across the 12 ABC/ESPN games were up 14% year-to-year, while the TNT Sports channels saw a more modest 4% lift as their long association with the NBA nears an end. Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 7 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for heavy lifting

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Heavy lifting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavy%20lifting. Accessed 28 May. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on heavy lifting

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!