'Heavy metals' definitions:

Definition of 'Heavy metals'

From: GCIDE
  • Heavy \Heav"y\, a. [Compar. Heavier; superl. Heaviest.] [OE. hevi, AS. hefig, fr. hebban to lift, heave; akin to OHG. hebig, hevig, Icel. h["o]figr, h["o]fugr. See Heave.]
  • 1. Heaved or lifted with labor; not light; weighty; ponderous; as, a heavy stone; hence, sometimes, large in extent, quantity, or effects; as, a heavy fall of rain or snow; a heavy failure; heavy business transactions, etc.; often implying strength; as, a heavy barrier; also, difficult to move; as, a heavy draught. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Not easy to bear; burdensome; oppressive; hard to endure or accomplish; hence, grievous, afflictive; as, heavy yokes, expenses, undertakings, trials, news, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • The hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod. --1 Sam. v. 6. [1913 Webster]
  • The king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Sent hither to impart the heavy news. --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster]
  • Trust him not in matter of heavy consequence. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Laden with that which is weighty; encumbered; burdened; bowed down, either with an actual burden, or with care, grief, pain, disappointment. [1913 Webster]
  • The heavy [sorrowing] nobles all in council were. --Chapman. [1913 Webster]
  • A light wife doth make a heavy husband. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Slow; sluggish; inactive; or lifeless, dull, inanimate, stupid; as, a heavy gait, looks, manners, style, and the like; a heavy writer or book. [1913 Webster]
  • Whilst the heavy plowman snores. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Of a heavy, dull, degenerate mind. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • Neither [is] his ear heavy, that it can not hear. --Is. lix. 1. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Strong; violent; forcible; as, a heavy sea, storm, cannonade, and the like. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Loud; deep; -- said of sound; as, heavy thunder. [1913 Webster]
  • But, hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more. --Byron. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Dark with clouds, or ready to rain; gloomy; -- said of the sky. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey; -- said of earth; as, a heavy road, soil, and the like. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. Not raised or made light; as, heavy bread. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. Not agreeable to, or suitable for, the stomach; not easily digested; -- said of food. [1913 Webster]
  • 11. Having much body or strength; -- said of wines, or other liquors. [1913 Webster]
  • 12. With child; pregnant. [R.] [1913 Webster]
  • Heavy artillery. (Mil.) (a) Guns of great weight or large caliber, esp. siege, garrison, and seacoast guns. (b) Troops which serve heavy guns.
  • Heavy cavalry. See under Cavalry.
  • Heavy fire (Mil.), a continuous or destructive cannonading, or discharge of small arms.
  • Heavy metal (Mil.), large guns carrying balls of a large size; also, large balls for such guns.
  • Heavy metals. (Chem.) See under Metal.
  • Heavy weight, in wrestling, boxing, etc., a term applied to the heaviest of the classes into which contestants are divided. Cf. Feather weight (c), under Feather. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Heavy is used in composition to form many words which need no special explanation; as, heavy-built, heavy-browed, heavy-gaited, etc. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Heavy metals'

From: GCIDE
  • Metal \Met"al\ (? or ?; 277), n. [F. m['e]tal, L. metallum metal, mine, Gr. ? mine; cf. Gr. ? to search after. Cf. Mettle, Medal.]
  • 1. (Chem.) An elementary substance, as sodium, calcium, or copper, whose oxide or hydroxide has basic rather than acid properties, as contrasted with the nonmetals, or metalloids. No sharp line can be drawn between the metals and nonmetals, and certain elements partake of both acid and basic qualities, as chromium, manganese, bismuth, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Popularly, the name is applied to certain hard, fusible metals, as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, zinc, nickel, etc., and also to the mixed metals, or metallic alloys, as brass, bronze, steel, bell metal, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Ore from which a metal is derived; -- so called by miners. --Raymond. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. A mine from which ores are taken. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Slaves . . . and persons condemned to metals. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. The substance of which anything is made; material; hence, constitutional disposition; character; temper. [1913 Webster]
  • Not till God make men of some other metal than earth. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Courage; spirit; mettle. See Mettle. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The allusion is to the temper of the metal of a sword blade. --Skeat. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. The broken stone used in macadamizing roads and ballasting railroads. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. The effective power or caliber of guns carried by a vessel of war. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Glass in a state of fusion. --Knight. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. pl. The rails of a railroad. [Eng.] [1913 Webster]
  • Base metal (Chem.), any one of the metals, as iron, lead, etc., which are readily tarnished or oxidized, in contrast with the noble metals. In general, a metal of small value, as compared with gold or silver.
  • Fusible metal (Metal.), a very fusible alloy, usually consisting of bismuth with lead, tin, or cadmium.
  • Heavy metals (Chem.), the metallic elements not included in the groups of the alkalies, alkaline earths, or the earths; specifically, the heavy metals, as gold, mercury, platinum, lead, silver, etc.
  • Light metals (Chem.), the metallic elements of the alkali and alkaline earth groups, as sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, etc.; also, sometimes, the metals of the earths, as aluminium.
  • Muntz metal, an alloy for sheathing and other purposes, consisting of about sixty per cent of copper, and forty of zinc. Sometimes a little lead is added. It is named from the inventor.
  • Prince's metal (Old Chem.), an alloy resembling brass, consisting of three parts of copper to one of zinc; -- also called Prince Rupert's metal. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'Heavy metals'