heft

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

heft, n. 

 Same as Haft, n.  Waller.  [1913 Webster]

heft, n. [From Heave: cf. hefe weight. Cf. Haft.].

•  The act or effort of heaving; violent strain or exertion.  [1913 Webster]

  "He craks his gorge, his sides,
  With violent hefts."  [1913 Webster]
•  Weight; ponderousness.  [1913 Webster]

  "A man of his age and heft."  [1913 Webster]
•  The greater part or bulk of anything; as, the heft of the crop was spoiled.  J. Pickering.  [1913 Webster]

heft, n. [G.].

 A number of sheets of paper fastened together, as for a notebook; also, a part of a serial publication.
"The size of “hefts” will depend on the material requiring attention, and the annual volume is to cost about 15 marks."  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

heft, v. t. 

•  To heave up; to raise aloft.  [1913 Webster]

  "Inflamed with wrath, his raging blade he heft."  [1913 Webster]
•  To prove or try the weight of by raising.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

heft, v. & n.
--v.tr. lift (something heavy), esp. to judge its weight.
--n. dial. or US weight, heaviness.

Etymology

prob. f. HEAVE after cleft, weft

THESAURUS

heft

avoirdupois, balance, be heavy, beef, beefiness, boost, buoy up, carry weight, cast up, counterbalance, deadweight, elevate, erect, escalate, fatness, gravity, gross weight, have weight, heave, heaviness, heftiness, heighten, heist, hike, hoick, hoist, hold the scales, hold up, jerk up, knock up, levitate, lie heavy, lift, lift up, liveweight, lob, loft, neat weight, net, net weight, overbalance, overweight, perk up, ponderability, ponderosity, ponderousness, poundage, raise, raise up, rear, rear up, rise, set up, sky, stick up, strike a balance, throw up, tip the scales, tonnage, underweight, up, upbuoy, upcast, upheave, uphoist, uphold, uplift, upraise, uprear, upthrow, weigh, weigh heavy, weigh in, weigh out, weight, weightiness

ROGET THESAURUS

heft

Instrument

N instrument, machinery, mechanism, engineering, instrument, organ, tool, implement, utensil, machine, engine, lathe, gin, mill, air engine, caloric engine, heat engine, gear, tackle, tackling, rig, rigging, apparatus, appliances, plant, materiel, harness, trappings, fittings, accouterments, barde, equipment, equipmentage, appointments, furniture, upholstery, chattels, paraphernalia, mechanical powers, lever, leverage, mechanical advantage, crow, crowbar, handspike, gavelock, jemmy, jimmy, arm, limb, wing, oar, paddle, pulley, wheel and axle, wheelwork, clockwork, wheels within wheels, pinion, crank, winch, cam, pedal, capstan, wheel, inclined plane, wedge, screw, spring, mainspring, can hook, glut, heald, heddle, jenny, parbuckle, sprag, water wheel, handle, hilt, haft, shaft, heft, shank, blade, trigger, tiller, helm, treadle, key, turnscrew, screwdriver, knocker, hammer, edge tool, borer, vice, teeth, nail, rope, peg, support, spoon, arms, oar, cardiograph, recapper, snowplow, tenpenny, votograph, instrumental, mechanical, machinal, brachial.

Exertion

N exertion, effort, strain, tug, pull, stress, throw, stretch, struggle, spell, spurt, spirt, stroke of work, stitch of work, a strong pull a long pull and a pull all together, dead lift, heft, gymnastics, exercise, exercitation, wear and tear, ado, toil and trouble, uphill work, hard work, warm work, harvest time, labor, work, toil, travail, manual labor, sweat of one's brow, swink, drudgery, slavery, fagging, hammering, limae labor, industry, industriousness, operoseness, operosity, trouble, pains, duty, resolution, energy, laboring, laborious, operose, elaborate, strained, toilsome, troublesome, wearisome, uphill, herculean, gymnastic, palestric, hard-working, painstaking, strenuous, energetic, hard at work, on the stretch, laboriously, lustily, pugnis et calcibus, with might and main, with all one's might, with a strong hand, with a sledge hammer, with much ado, to the best of one's abilities, totis viribus, vi et armis, manibus pedibusque, tooth and nail, unguibus et rostro, hammer and tongs, heart and soul, through thick and thin, by the sweat of one's brow, suo Marte, aide-toi le ciel t'aidera, and still be doing, never done, buen principio la mitad es hecha, cosa ben fatta e' fatta due volie, it is better to wear out than to rust out, labor omnia vincit, labor, wide as the earth, has its summit in Heaven, le travail du corps delivre des peines de l'esprit, manu forti, ora et labora.