superheavyadj.n.
/ˌsuːpəˈhɛvi/, /ˌsjuːpəˈhɛvi/, U.S. /ˌsupərˈhɛvi/ A. adj.
1. Extremely heavy; heavier than is usual or normal.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > weight or relative heaviness > [adjective] > heavy > unusually
heavy1617
superheavy1822
heavyweight1895
1822 National Advocate (N.Y.) 26 Feb. (advt.) Azure blue & fancy calicoes,..gingham umbrellas, 7-8 super heavy Britannia hkfs. [i.e. handkerchiefs].
1884 Young Eng. Aug. 522/2 We..tramped up the interminable boulevard..till super-heavy great-coats, crammed portmanteaus, and inopportunely genial sun took all the good temper out of us.
1945 Times 1 Jan. 4/1 The Russians are using an entirely new type of tank... It is the super-heavy Stalin tank and has the biggest tank gun in the world.
1952 Sci. Amer. May 44/1 It is a job for accurate balancing and gyroscope controls..and therefore an ideal spot for Hevimet, super-heavy Carboloy created-metal.
2000 Rugby World June 139/2 (advt.) Rugby shirts, acrylic or cotton, from light to superheavy.
2. Nuclear Physics. Having a very large atomic mass; spec. designating chemical elements with atomic numbers greater than those of the naturally occurring elements (cf. transuranic adj.), or (now esp.) greater than that of fermium (100); (also) of or relating to such elements.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactive isotope > [adjective] > heavy > superheavy
superheavy1929
1929 J. H. Jeans Universe around Us v. 305 It seems probable that these other types [of matter] must be elements of higher atomic weight than uranium. These super-heavy atoms must not be expected to disclose their presence in stellar spectra.
1955 J. A. Wheeler in W. Pauli Niels Bohr & Devel. Physics 183 The superheavy nuclei that are neutron stable.
1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xviii. 107 Tritium is also called super-heavy hydrogen.
1970 Physics Bull. Dec. 534/2 The suggestion that there exists a further ‘island’ of stability around mass number 300: superheavy nuclei which may have lifetimes from a fraction of a second, up to many years.
1993 New Scientist 14 Aug. 8/1 The ‘superheavy’ or transfermium elements..are highly unstable, usually existing only briefly in particle accelerators or as theoretical species.
2002 P. Ball Elements v. 115 One isotope of element 114, with 184 neutrons, is..expected to sit right in the middle of an ‘island of stability’ in the space of superheavy nuclei.
2009 Nature 23 July 449/2 The superheavy element [no. 112], previously known by the placeholder ununbium, was officially recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in May.
B. n.
1. Sport colloquial. A superheavyweight boxer or wrestler.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > boxing > [noun] > boxer > of specific weight
welter1804
lightweight1817
middleweight1847
heavyweight1857
light middleweight1885
light-heavyweight1887
featherweight1889
light-heavy1892
light welterweight1892
welter weight1896
light welter1904
super heavyweight1907
middle1908
fly-weight1911
heavy1913
superheavy1917
cruiser-weight1920
light flyweight1922
cruiser1928
mini-flyweight1971
1917 Ogden (Utah) Standard 24 Mar. 2/6 Consider for a moment a match between Morris Fulton or Willard and any heavyweight you can name. It would be ridiculous, wouldn't it? They are ‘super-heavies’.
1976 Daily Times (Lagos) 22 Sept. 30/1 That's how wrestling ‘superheavy’ Ray Apallon begins the open challenge to ‘any of your Nigerian heavyweight wrestlers’.
2009 Irish Independent (Nexis) 27 Aug. (Sports section) The remaining two [boxers] are both former senior champions—Kildare feather David Oliver Joyce and Belfast superheavy Cathal McMonagle.
2. Nuclear Physics. A superheavy element.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactive isotope > [noun] > heavy water > superheavy element
superheavy1970
1970 J. P. Schiffer in Comments Nucl. & Particle Physics 4 90 (title) The quest for superheavies.
1971 New Scientist 18 Feb. 344/3 The radioactive counts from the mercury source showed the most promise for a superheavy.
1980 Physical Rev. C. 21 1664/2 The recent theoretical estimates of low barriers..are supported by the failure to detect superheavies in the 48Ca + 248Cm reaction.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 1 Feb. i. 1/5 A team of Russian and American scientists are reporting today that they have created two new chemical elements, called superheavies because of their enormous atomic mass.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1822