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Glite Dictionary
light-duty

light-duty

3 4.0
Made for jobs that do not need much strength or heavy use
  • adjective
  • /ˈlaɪtˌduːti/
translation icon : de uso ligero
  • About one-quarter of the people who will buy new, light-duty vehicles this year will choose SUVs.
  • light-duty vehicles
  • light-duty trucks
  • light-duty diesels

Examples

  • The military assigned her to light-duty support roles to help her recover from her injury.

  • Doctor says I'm cleared for light duty.

    A Party to Die For (2022)

  • Yeah, I was on light duty and then they kind of blacklisted me from modeling.

  • The company has been selling light-duty diesels in Europe for the past five years.

    Academic text (2006)

  • By 1998, two percent of all light-duty vehicles sold in California must be ZEVs.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The Police Department on Long Island, N.Y., allowed officers to take desk jobs or light-duty assignments when they notified superiors they were pregnant.

    Academic text (2006)

  • The vehicle came equipped with a light-duty crane, a flatbed in back, and a world-class collection of dents.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • After my surgery, the doctor recommended I take on only light-duty tasks for a few weeks.

  • This electric lawn mower is perfect for light-duty use in small gardens and yards.

Antonyms

heavy-duty
23 3.9

Made to do hard work and last a long time

How Demanding

industrial
71 3.5
heavy-duty
23 3.9
light-duty
3 4.0

Surface Forms

light-duty positive
light-dutied positive

Morphology

light-duty = light + duty (transparent) = light + duty

The compound straightforwardly means 'duty or work that is light/not demanding', directly combining the meanings of 'light' and 'duty'.

Etymology

Light-duty is a compound of two common words: light meaning 'not heavy' and duty meaning 'task' or 'job', so it describes work or equipment for 'not heavy' tasks. That's why a light-duty tool or vehicle is made for small, easy jobs rather than hard, heavy work.