heavy hitter

noun
1.
a baseball player who makes many extra-base hits.
2.
a very important or influential person:
the secretary of state and other heavy hitters.
Origin
1975-80
Related forms
heavy-hitter, adjective
Examples from the web for heavy hitter
  • And one reason salmonella may be such a heavy hitter is that it actually hijacks our immune response for its own benefit.
  • If you are a heavy hitter, your car may be booted at any time, even if you are parked legally.
  • It's a true story and the kind of uplifting heavy hitter that seems tailor-made for ceremonial recognition.
  • Hydrogen may be the lightest element, but it's a heavy hitter when it comes to clean energy.
British Dictionary definitions for heavy hitter

heavy hitter

noun
1.
(informal) another term for big hitter (sense 2)
Contemporary definitions for heavy hitter
noun

See big hitter

Slang definitions & phrases for heavy hitter

heavy hitter

noun phrase

A person of achievement; an expert; major leaguer: There was no one-upmanship dealing with a heavy hitter like Cifelli/ Hitler was a heavy-hitter if there ever was one/ I knew immediately that Annette Bening was a long-ball hitter, emotionally, intellectually and artistically

[1980s+; fr a baseball term, ''player who hits the ball hard,'' found by 1883; long-ball variant found in baseball by 1950s]


Idioms and Phrases with heavy hitter

heavy hitter

An important or influential individual or organization. For example, This publishing house is one of the heavy hitters in the textbook industry. This expression originated in sports such as boxing, where it literally meant “hitting hard,” and was transferred to other enterprises in the mid-1900s.