English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

heavily

adv

To a great degree or extent.

heaviness

noun

The quality of being heavy; weight.

heaving

adj

Informal: very crowded.

heavy

adj

Having great weight; hard to lift or carry.

heavyset

adj

Having a large, sturdy build.

heavyweight

noun

The highest weight class in boxing and similar combat sports, or a competitor in that class.

hebdomad

noun

A set of seven things.

hebdomadal

adj

Lasting for a period of seven days.

hebdomadally

adv

Once a week, or every seven days.

hebdomadary

noun

In a convent, the member whose turn it is that week to lead the choir and carry out certain other duties.

hebetate

adj

Blunt; dull.

hebetic

adj

Relating to being young or to puberty.

hebetude

noun

A tired, sluggish state of mind.

Hebrew

noun

A member of the ancient Semitic people descended from the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Hebrews

name

A book of the New Testament, written as a letter to Jewish Christians.

Hebrides

name

A group of islands off the west coast of Scotland, split into the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

Hecate

name

A Greek goddess associated with magic, crossroads, and the moon.

hecatomb

noun

A great public sacrifice to the gods, originally of a hundred oxen; also, a great number of animals reserved for such a sacrifice.

heck

interjection

A mild, family-friendly substitute for "hell," used to express frustration or surprise.

heckle

verb

To interrupt a speaker or performer with mocking comments or aggressive questions.

Heckler

name

A German surname, an occupational name related to combing or carding flax; also a common noun for a person who interrupts a speaker with jeers.

heckling

noun

The act of shouting mocking comments or aggressive questions at a speaker or performer.

hectare

noun

A unit of area equal to ten thousand square metres, used to measure the size of land.

hectic

adjective

Extremely busy, rushed, and full of activity, often to a stressful degree.

hectometre

noun

An SI unit of length equal to one hundred metres, symbol hm.

hector

verb

To bully or intimidate someone through loud, aggressive bluster.

hedera

noun

Any type of ivy belonging to the plant genus Hedera.

hedge

noun

A row of closely planted bushes or shrubs forming a barrier or boundary.

hedge fund

noun

A pooled investment fund, usually open only to institutions and wealthy individuals, whose managers may use a very wide range of strategies — including borrowing, derivatives and betting on prices falling — and which typically faces lighter regulation and fewer disclosure requirements than funds sold to the general public.

hedgehog

verb

To curl into a tight defensive ball, or to set up spiky defenses, the way a hedgehog protects itself.

Hedges

name

An English surname, originally denoting someone who lived near a hedge or hedgerow.

hedging

noun

The practice of making an additional investment or trade designed to offset losses on another position, so that a fall in one is cushioned by a gain in the other.

Hedley

name

An English surname and place name meaning "heathery clearing."

hedonism

noun

The pursuit of pleasure and enjoyment as the main aim of life, often with little regard for restraint or consequences.

hedonistic

adjective

Devoted to seeking pleasure and enjoyment, often to the point of self-indulgence.

Hedwig

noun

A German female given name.

hee

interjection

A sound imitating laughter, often written doubled as "hee hee."

heed

verb

To pay close attention to advice or a warning and take it seriously.

heedful

adj

Careful and paying attention to what is happening.

heedfulness

noun

The quality of being careful and attentive.

heedless

adj

Not noticing or thinking about something, and so acting carelessly.

heedlessly

adv

Without paying attention: unawares, failing to notice, carelessly and inattentively.

heel

noun

The rounded back part of the foot, or the corresponding part of a shoe or sock.

heels

noun

Shoes with raised, elevated backs, typically worn by women.

heer

noun

A historical unit for measuring a length of yarn, equal to six hundred yards, used before yarn was measured in standardized metric units.

Hef

name

A masculine nickname, most famously the shortened form of Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine.

Heffernan

name

An Irish surname, an anglicized form of a Gaelic name meaning "descendant of the sighing one."

Hefner

name

A German-American surname, notably borne by Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine.

heft

noun

How heavy something feels when you hold it.

heftiness

noun

The state of being heavy or solidly built.

hefty

adjective

Large, heavy, and solidly built; substantial in size or weight.

Hegel

name

A German surname, famous as that of philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

hegemony

noun

Dominance by one country, group or class over others, especially political and economic leadership that others cannot easily challenge.

hegumen

noun

The leader in charge of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic tradition.

heh

interjection

A written representation of a short, mild laugh, often used online to show quiet amusement rather than genuine hilarity.

hehe

interjection

A written imitation of a soft, often slightly mischievous or teasing giggle.

HEIC

noun

An image format used by default on recent iPhones and iPads, which stores photographs at a similar quality to JPEG in roughly half the file size, and can hold several images in one file.

Heidelberg

name

A city in southwestern Germany, known for its historic university and castle.

Heidi

name

A feminine given name of German and Swiss origin, a diminutive of Adelheid, meaning "noble."

heifer

noun

A young female cow that has not yet given birth to a calf.

height

noun

The measurement of how tall something or someone is, from base to top.

heighten

verb

To increase the intensity, degree, or effect of something.

heightened

adjective

Made more intense or noticeable than usual.

heights

noun

A neighborhood or area situated on elevated or hilly ground, often used in place names.

heil

verb

To greet someone with the raised-arm "Sieg Heil" salute, historically associated with Nazi Germany.

Heimlich

noun

Short for the Heimlich maneuver, an emergency first-aid technique that uses abdominal thrusts to dislodge an object blocking someone's airway.

Hein

name

A German and Dutch surname and given name, a short form of Heinrich.

Heineken

noun

Informal, jokey use of the brand name to mean something that reaches or affects places or people that other, similar things cannot, echoing an old advertising slogan.

heinie

noun

Informal American slang for a person's buttocks.

heinous

adjective

Shockingly evil or wicked, especially describing a crime.

Heinrich

name

A German masculine given name meaning "home ruler."

Heinz

noun

In poker slang, a starting hand made up of a five and a seven, playfully named after the "57 Varieties" slogan of the Heinz food brand.

heir

noun

A person legally entitled to inherit someone's property, money, or title after they die.

heiress

noun

A woman who is due to inherit, or has already inherited, significant wealth or property.

heirloom

noun

A valued item, often jewelry, furniture, or a keepsake, that has been passed down within a family across generations.

Heisenberg

name

A German surname, best known through physicist Werner Heisenberg, who formulated the uncertainty principle.

heiskell

name

The name of a unincorporated community in Knox County, Tennessee, United States.

heist

noun

A robbery, especially a carefully planned one targeting a bank, museum, or similar institution.

Hel

noun

In Norse mythology, the goddess who presides over the realm of those who died without dying in battle.

held

verb

The past tense and past participle of hold: to have kept something in your hands or arms, or to have kept it in a position or state.

Helen

name

The daughter of Zeus and Leda, considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world; her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War.

Helena

name

A female given name of Greek origin, also the name of the capital city of Montana.

Helene

name

A female given name of Greek origin, a variant of Helen.

Helga

name

A female given name of Scandinavian origin.

helicopter

noun

An aircraft lifted and moved by one or more sets of rotating overhead blades, letting it hover, fly in any direction, or land vertically.

heliocentric

adjective

Having the sun at the centre, as with a coordinate system, orbit or astronomical model.

heliocentrism

noun

The model of the universe in which the Sun sits at the centre.

Helios

name

In Greek mythology, the god who personifies the sun, said to drive his chariot across the sky each day.

heliosheath

noun

A zone between the termination shock and the heliopause, in the heliosphere, at the outer border of the Solar System, where the solar wind is dramatically slower than within the termination shock.

heliotrope

noun

A fragrant plant of the genus Heliotropium, especially garden heliotrope, which bears clusters of small purple flowers.

helipad

noun

A small, dedicated landing and takeoff area for helicopters.

helium

noun

A colorless, odorless, chemically inert gas, the second-lightest element, used to fill balloons and cool superconducting equipment.

helix

noun

A three-dimensional spiral curve, like the shape of a screw thread or a spiral staircase.

hell

noun

In many religions, the place of punishment for the wicked after death.

hella

adv

Informal: very, extremely, or a lot — used to intensify an adjective or verb.

hellas

name

Greece, or more specifically, Ancient Greece.

hellborn

adj

Coming from hell, or originating there.

hellcat

noun

A fierce, spiteful, or violently bad-tempered person, historically used especially of women.

Helle

name

In Greek mythology, a princess who fled her stepmother on a flying golden ram and fell into the strait later named after her, the Hellespont.

hellebore

noun

Any of the flowering garden plants of the genus Helleborus, in the buttercup family, traditionally credited with medicinal properties.

hellene

noun

A person from Greece, particularly in ancient times.

hellenic

adj

Relating to Greek culture and civilisation as they were before the Hellenistic era.

heller

noun

A small coin once used in Germany and Central Europe, and later a subunit of the Czech and Slovak koruna.

hellfire

adj

Relating to fiery, apocalyptic warnings of divine punishment, especially in preaching.

hellhole

noun

A place marked by extreme misery, squalor, or unpleasantness.

hellion

noun

A wild, noisy or badly behaved person, often a child.

hellish

adj

Resembling or relating to hell; infernal.

hellman

noun

Informal: someone who acts recklessly or without fear, a daredevil.

hello

intj

A common greeting said when meeting someone or answering the phone.

hells

intj

An exclamation of frustration or surprise, used the same way as "hell".

hellstrip

noun

A narrow strip of ground that lies between a pavement and the road.

helluo

noun

A person who eats to excess; a glutton or big eater.

helluv

adj

(informal) Used to emphasise that there is a large amount of something.

helluva

adj

Informal: remarkable, impressive, or extreme — a slurred form of "a hell of a".

helly

name

A surname of German, notably held by Eduard Helly origin.

helm

noun

The wheel or tiller used to steer a ship; more broadly, the position of control or leadership.

Helmand

name

A river in Afghanistan, and the province named after it.

helmer

noun

Informal, especially in the film industry: a director, someone who "helms" a production.

helmet

noun

A hard protective covering worn on the head, especially during sports, combat, or dangerous work.

helmsman

noun

The person who steers a ship.

helo

noun

An informal, especially military, word for a helicopter.

Heloise

name

A female given name of French origin.

helot

noun

A member of the class of serfs in ancient Sparta.

help

verb

To provide assistance to someone or something.

help and support

noun

Practical assistance combined with ongoing encouragement or backing, offered to someone who is struggling or learning.

helper

noun

A person or thing that provides assistance.

helpful

adj

Giving useful help or assistance.

helpfulness

noun

The quality of being useful or willing to help.

helping

noun

A portion of food served to one person.

helping others

noun

The act or practice of giving assistance to other people, especially freely and without expecting anything in return.

helpless

adj

Unable to protect, help, or defend oneself; powerless.

helplessly

adv

In a way that shows an inability to help oneself or take action.

helplessness

noun

The state or feeling of being unable to help oneself or affect a situation.

helps

verb

The third-person singular present form of "help".

Helsinki

name

The capital and largest city of Finland.

helve

noun

The handle of a tool or weapon.

hem

noun

The folded and stitched edge of a piece of clothing or fabric, meant to stop it from fraying.

Hemant

name

A masculine given name of Sanskrit origin, meaning "winter" or "the winter season."

hematology

noun

The scientific study of blood and the organs that produce it.

hematoma

noun

A swollen, bruise-like lump caused by blood pooling outside a broken blood vessel.

hemeral

adj

Happening every day, following a 24-hour cycle.

hemicrania

noun

A headache that affects only one side of the head.

hemiformal

noun

A chemical compound formed as a hemiacetal from formaldehyde.

Hemingway

name

Surname of Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), the American novelist known for a spare, direct writing style.

hemisphere

noun

One half of the Earth, typically divided north/south by the equator or east/west by a chosen meridian.

hemlock

noun

A highly poisonous flowering plant, or the deadly poison extracted from it.

hemoglobin

noun

The iron-rich protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

hemophiliac

noun

Someone who has haemophilia.

hemorrhage

noun

Heavy or uncontrolled bleeding, either inside the body or from a wound.

hemorrhagic

adjective

Relating to, or causing, heavy bleeding.