heavy fine
1
3.7
- noun
- Individuals who violate safety regulations may be subject to heavy fines imposed by the authorities.
- heavy fines and imprisonment
- levy heavy fines
- face heavy fines
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Watch on YouTubeI would just like support or changing light bulbs, you know, you know, those, those red blinking light bulbs on tall structures, there's heavy fines if those go out.
- I would just like support or changing light bulbs, you know, you know, those, those red blinking light bulbs on tall structures, there's heavy fines if those go out.
Examples
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Expect some heavy fines for Lawrence Frank and Jason Kidd for their comments about the officiating last night.
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Under the horrific health care bill unveiled by Democrats on Thursday, Americans who refuse to buy health insurance will be hit with heavy fines of more than $1,000.
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There is a heavy fine.
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Nor did he pay a "heavy" fine.
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He lost his law license and had to pay a heavy fine.
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For this reason, the government stepped in to levy heavy fines against the accused in civil actions.
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A wake-up call can come in the form of a heavy fine, loss of customs privileges, or even criminal charges.
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Bishop could receive heavy fines and imprisonment for violating the SEC's rules that a purchase of over five percent of a company must be disclosed.
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Governments impose heavy fines on faltering companies and personally hold the CEO and some others totally responsible for underpayment of income taxes.
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Companies that produce excessive waste (hazardous waste) may risk heavy fines, and their managers may be subject to fines and imprisonment if potential pollutants are mismanaged.
Academic text (1997)
Synonyms
160
2.9
A sum of money you must pay for breaking a contract
How Large
1
3.7
321
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a large monetary penalty' is directly and transparently built from 'heavy' (large/intense) modifying 'fine' (a monetary charge), so the phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun intensification. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows regular English semantics, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase heavy fine creates a simple image: imagine a bag of coins so heavy it weighs you down. The word heavy suggests great weight or a big burden and fine is money you must pay as a punishment, so the phrase means 'a large amount of money charged as a penalty'.