heav ‧ ily W3 /ˈhevəli, ˈhevɪli/ BrE AmE adverb
1 . in large amounts, to a high degree, or with great severity SYN very :
I became heavily involved in politics.
The report was heavily criticized in the press.
a heavily populated area
thousands of heavily armed troops
His wife was heavily pregnant at the time.
it rains/snows heavily
It’s been raining heavily all day.
drink/smoke heavily
Paul was drinking heavily by then.
heavily dependent/reliant/influenced
Britain is heavily dependent on imports for its raw materials.
2 . sleep heavily if you sleep heavily, you cannot be woken easily
3 . breathe heavily to breathe slowly and loudly:
Breathing heavily, I stopped and sat down to rest.
4 . heavily built having a large broad body that looks strong
5 . if you do or say something heavily, you do it slowly and with a lot of effort, especially because you are sad or bored:
He was walking heavily, his head down.
Emily sighed heavily.
‘I suppose so,’ she said heavily.
6 . be heavily into something informal to do something a lot or be very interested in it:
Sid was heavily into drugs by the time he left school.