heftn.1
/hɛft/, U.S. /hɛft/ I. Weight, force, or bulk.† 2. figurative. Stress, pressure of circumstances; ‘need, emergency’ (Nares). Obsolete.
1. figurative.1878 H. B. Stowe Poganuc People iii. 24 Come to a sermon—wal, ain't no gret heft in't.† b. Force (of falling blows). Obsolete.
a. Weight, heaviness, ponderousness. dialect and U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > weight or relative heaviness > [noun] > property of being heavy
peisea1382
heavinessa1400
ponderosity?a1425
pesanteur1480
ponderousnessc1484
poise1489
pondera1500
weightiness1539
heft1558
gravity1648
ponderity1656
pondure1661
luggage1667
ponderancy1667
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos vii. sig. S.iijv A swarme of bees beset the bowes..and fast with feete in cluster clung..and on the top with heft they hung.
1567 G. Turberville in A. Chalmers Eng. Poets (1810) II. 583/1 Or never crusht his head with Helmets heft.
1598 R. Grenewey tr. Tacitus Annales xv. xiii. 240 Weighing downe with the heft of her bodie.
1663 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Names & Scantlings Inventions §56 That all the Weights..shall be perpetually..equal in number and heft to the one side as the other.
1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. iv. 54 Constitoounts air hendy to help a man in, But arterwards don't weigh the heft of a pin.
1864 ‘E. Kirke’ Down in Tennessee viii. 107 I's six foot three,..weigh a hun'red an' eighty, kin whip twice my heft in Secesh, bars, or rattlesnakes.
1867 Pennsylv. School Jrnl. No. 16107 The books have a heft,—a feeling of weight and solidity,—that the book fancier especially prizes.
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Heft,..a heavy weight. A dead heft is a weight that cannot be moved.
1966 H. Roth Button, Button (1967) iv. 84 He was more on the lean side than supplied with heft.
1972 Sci. Amer. Dec. p. ii/2 Go ahead, pick it up. The heft tells you it's solid sterling silver.
ΚΠ
1659 W. Chamberlayne Pharonnida v. v. sig. N6 Each nimble stroke quick..fell, yet with a heft So full of danger, most behind them left Their bloody marks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > difficult state of things > sudden, extreme, or emergency
needOE
needinga1400
exigentc1475
plunge1519
opportunity1526
push1563
dead lift1567
heft1587
exigence1588
exigency1601
emergent1620
lift1624
emergencya1631
emergencea1676
emergementa1734
amplush1827
crisis1848
situation1954
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > oppression, persecution, or affliction > overpowering pressure of an adverse force
stressc1400
distress1485
thrust1513
straint1534
heft1587
pinchc1594
rack1806
pend1823
water stress1991
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > need or want > [noun] > extreme or urgent need
exigence1581
heft1587
exigency1589
emergency1716
emergence1781
1587 J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) Forrex v Far apart from vs we wisedome left: Forsooke each other at the greatest heft.
3. The bulk, mass, or main part. U.S. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority
the more partOE
the best part ofOE
(the) more parta1350
(the) most parta1350
(the) most part alla1350
(the) most party1372
for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387
the better part ofa1393
the mo?a1400
most forcea1400
substancea1413
corsec1420
generalty?c1430
the greater partc1430
three quartersc1470
generalityc1485
the most feck1488
corpse1533
most1553
nine-tenths?1556
better half1566
generality?1570
pluralityc1570
body1574
the great body (of)1588
flush1592
three fourths1600
best1601
heap1609
gross1625
lump1709
bulk1711
majority1714
nineteen in twenty1730
balance1747
sweighta1800
heft1816
chief1841
the force1842
thick end1847
1816 J. Pickering Vocab. U.S. 104 A part of the crop of corn was good, but the heft of it was bad.
1849 N.Y. Herald 5 Feb. He's to his shop the heft of his time.
1884 Harper's Mag. Oct. 740/1 The heft of Mr. Lane's means was placed in the boat and the house.
II. An act or instance of heaving or lifting.† 4. A heave, a strain; a heaving effort. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [noun] > instance of > an effort > strong or muscular
strain1590
hefta1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) ii. i. 47 He cracks his gorge, his sides With violent Hefts . View more context for this quotation
5. The act of lifting; a lift. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > raising > [noun] > taking or lifting up
upbearinga1340
upniming1340
lifting up1362
undertaking1382
uptaking1495
extolling1558
lift1570
catching upa1629
uplifting1650
tollation1688
gathering1691
punt1854
heft1881
bunk-up1919
1881 R. D. Blackmore Christowell (1882) iii The sturdy parson seized the bigger of the two ash staves, and..gave the stuck wheel such a powerful heft, that the whole cart rattled.
1888 ‘P. Cushing’ Blacksmith of Voe I. Prol. 12 Giving a sudden mighty heft that was intended to do the work.
1895 W. Rye Gloss. Words E. Anglia Heft, or Hift, a lift or a push.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
heftn.2
/hɛft/, U.S. /hɛft/ A number of sheets of paper fastened together to form a book; spec. a division of a serial work; a part of a serial publication, a fascicle.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > series or set > [noun] > part of
part1424
volume1523
fascicle1647
pt.1654
number1728
livraison1784
fasciculus1845
fascicule1880
heft1886
1886 Athenæum 9 Oct. 464/1 This treatise forms the fifth Heft of the second volume.
1892 Rev. Reviews Jan. 58/1 There is another interesting article..in Heft 14 of the Gartenlaube.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
heftn.3
local.
(The sheep in) a settled or accustomed pasture-ground.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > defined by eating habits
turnip-sheep1844
trek sheep1912
smothering1950
heft1960
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > [noun] > pasture > sheep pasture
heafc1525
sheep-gate1535
herdwick1537
fold-course1538
wether gang1561
sheep-walk1586
sheep's course1623
sheep-weald1634
sheep-rake1653
sleighta1697
sheep-leasea1722
sheep-sleighta1722
hirsel1822
sheep-run1826
sheep-heaf1844
shepherd land1892
heft1960
1960 K. Williamson & J. M. Boyd St. Kilda Summer 84 The Hirta flock is divided into hefts, more or less discrete groups each restricted to its own particular range.
1961 New Scientist 9 Nov. 341/2 The natural unit in hill sheep farming is the heft—the group of sheep that habitually graze within the confines of a particular area of hill ground.
1971 Country Life 28 Oct. 1166/1 Anticipated difficulties from depriving the hefted sheep of their age-old hefts or heafs have not occurred.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
heftv.1
dialect and U.S. colloquial.figurative.1878 H. B. Stowe Poganuc People iii. 24 Come to heft him, tho', he don't weigh much 'longside o' Parson Cushing.
1. To lift, lift up; to remove by lifting. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > raising > make to go up or cause to rise [verb (transitive)] > lift or take up > remove by lifting
heft1789
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > raising > raise [verb (intransitive)] > lift or remove by lifting
heft1913
1789 D. Davidson Thoughts Seasons 3 (Jam.) The eagle..to the beetling cliff he hefts his prey.
1858 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table xii. 348 The Governor hefted the crowns.
1882 R. Jefferies Bevis III. xvi. 254 With this considerate ease Bevis was to ‘heft’ his gun to the shoulder.
1913 R. W. Service Rhymes of Rolling Stone 40 And here they must make the long portage, and the boys sweat in the sun; And they heft and pack, and they haul and track, and each must do his trick.
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xiv. 308 He was hefting the bench leg.
1960 J. Maclaren-Ross Until Day she Dies ii. 36 ‘Can't see anybody,’ I said, hefting the case.
2. To lift for the purpose of trying the weight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > ascertain the weight of [verb (transitive)] > again > estimate weight by holding in hands
peisea1393
weigh1540
heft1816
weight1898
1816 J. Pickering Vocab. U.S. 104 To heft,..to lift any thing in order to judge of its weight, is not in the dictionaries.
1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. at Heft n. We sometimes hear it used as a verb, as, to heft, to lift for the purpose of feeling or judging of the weight.
1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table (1885) xii. 303 I should like to ‘heft’ it in my own hand.
1894 R. D. Blackmore Perlycross I. viii. 108 He..‘hefted it’, (that is to say, poised it carefully to judge the weight, as one does a letter for the post).
3. intransitive. To weigh, have weight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > weight or relative heaviness > have weight [verb (intransitive)]
ponderate1647
heft1851
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > ascertain weight [verb (intransitive)] > weigh (a specific amount)
weighc1000
peisea1382
weighc1386
poise1389
ponder?a1425
to turn the scale1600
ponderize1634
heft1851
avoirdupois1854
scale1862
to tip the scales1884
to weigh in1909
1851 S. Judd Margaret (1871) 241 I remember the great hog up in Dunwich, that hefted nigh twenty score.
1893 C. M. Yonge Treasures in Marshes ii. 11 I do believe it is [gold]. Brass never would heft so much.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
heftv.2
/hɛft/, U.S. /hɛft/, Scottish English /hɛft/ Chiefly Scottish.
To restrain, retain (milk or urine).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > secretory organs > action or process of secreting > secreting spec. > [verb (transitive)] > retain milk
heft1825
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > urinary system > urinate [verb (transitive)] > retain urine
heft1825
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. To heft, to confine nature, to restrain. A cow's milk is said to be heftit, when it is not drawn off for some time... One is said to be heftit, when, in consequence of long retention, the bladder is painfully distended.
1842 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm (1849) 522/2 The impropriety of hefting or holding the milk in cows until the udder is distended.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.11558
n.21886n.31960v.11789
v.21825- to make a etc plain
- to make a etc plain with the earth
- to make a etc show
- to make a etc slight
- to make a etc slight of
- to make a etc too hot for
- to make a face
- to make a false step
- to make a fare
- to make a fathom
- to make a feast of
- to make a feast upon
- to make a federal case out of
- to make a feint
- to make a fend
- to make a field
- to make a fight
- to make a figure
- to make a fine
- to make a fine show
- to make a fist
- to make a flutter
- to make a fool of
- to make a fool of oneself
- to make a full sethe