heavy machinery
12
3.4
- noun
- /ˈhɛvi məˈʃinəri/
:
maquinaria pesada
- Could they operate heavy machinery then?
Apparently people wear a tie originally to show that they didn't work operating heavy machinery.
- Apparently people wear a tie originally to show that they didn't work operating heavy machinery.
Examples
-
Large tanks, pipes, heavy machinery, and trucks were scattered behind the gates.
Blog text (20) -
Heavy machinery, cranes, building materials, and large groups of men populate the sites.
Academic text (2008) -
But then, what little they had in the way of heavy machinery never seemed to last very long these days.
Fiction book (2002) -
If affected, do not operate heavy machinery or drive, right?
-
There was a distant thudding of heavy machinery in operation somewhere not too far away.
Fiction book (1997) -
The salary is high because you'll be around heavy machinery and hazardous areas.
Blog text (2) -
They must have come in here with heavy machinery and flattened it out.
-
In the United States, the bulk of our heavy machinery and freight hauling vehicles are diesel-powered.
Blog text (30) -
The air is thick with the thunder of heavy machinery, the distorted cries of men, and the crackle of radio static.
Fiction book (1990) -
The construction crew used heavy machinery to lift the steel beams into place.
Synonyms
104
3.3
Large tools and equipment used in factories or farms
17
3.4
Large machines like bulldozers or cranes used to move dirt and heavy materials
1
3.5
Machines like diggers and bulldozers that dig and move soil at building or mine sites
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'large powerful machines used in construction or similar heavy-duty work' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'heavy' (having large weight) with 'machinery' (machines/equipment), following the normal adjective + noun compositional pattern. This simple, cross-linguistically common construction (e.g., Spanish 'maquinaria pesada') would be readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
Heavy machinery comes from a simple image: heavy means very heavy and machinery means machines, so think of big cranes, bulldozers and digging machines moving earth and lifting large loads. So, the phrase means 'large, powerful machines used for construction, mining, or other heavy work'.