heft

/hɛft/

/hɛft/

Other forms: hefted; hefting; hefts

Heft is the bulk or weight of a person or thing. You might shift the heft of that huge bag of dog food you just bought over to your left arm while you use your right hand to open the door.

The heft of your big suitcase might make you question the wisdom of packing so many books. You can use heft as a verb, too — you could move the books into your backpack and then heft it back onto your shoulder. Heft comes from the verb heave, "lift with effort," modeled on verb/noun combinations like "thieve" and "theft" or "weave" and "weft."

Definitions of heft

1. noun

   the property of being large in mass
   synonyms: heftiness, massiveness, ponderosity, ponderousness

   type of:

   heaviness, weightiness

   the property of being comparatively great in weight
2. verb

   test the weight of something by lifting it
   type of:

   librate, weigh

   determine the weight of
3. verb

   lift or elevate
   synonyms: heave, heave up, heft up

   types:

   upheave

   lift forcefully from beneath

   weigh anchor, weigh the anchor

   heave up an anchor in preparation for sailing

   type of:

   lift

   take hold of something and move it to a different location