[H]e saw, at the end of a shallow embrasure, a ponderous door of dark wood, braced with iron.
The great elephant, when the cage was being placed, would, at a signal from its keeper, place its ponderous head against one side of the cage and push.
Wikipedia foundation.
Ponderous — Pon der*ous, a. [L. ponderosus, from pondus, eris, a weight: cf. F. pond[ e]reux. See {Ponder}.] 1. Very heavy; weighty; as, a ponderous shield; a ponderous load; the ponderous elephant. [1913 Webster] The sepulcher . . . Hath oped his ponderous… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
ponderous — [adj1] heavy, cumbersome awkward, bulky, burdensome, clumsy, cumbrous, dull, elephantine, graceless, hefty, huge, laborious, lifeless, lumbering, massive, onerous, oppressive, substantial, troublesome, unhandy, unwieldy, weighty; concepts 491,565 … New thesaurus
ponderous — [pän′dər əs] adj. [ME < L ponderosus < pondus, a weight: see POUND1] 1. very heavy 2. unwieldy because of weight 3. that seems heavy; bulky; massive 4. labored and dull [a ponderous joke] SYN. HEAVY … English World dictionary
ponderous — I adjective awkward, big, boring, bulky, burdensome, clumsy, corpulent, cumbersome, cumbrous, dense, drearisome, dreary, droning, dull, elephantine, enormous, forced, gravis, hard to lift, heavy, hulking, labored, large, leaden, lifeless,… … Law dictionary
ponderous — (adj.) c.1400, heavy, weighty, clumsy, from L. ponderosus of great weight, from pondus (gen. ponderis) weight (see POUND (Cf. pound) (n.1)). Meaning tedious is first recorded 1704 … Etymology dictionary
ponderous — cumbrous, cumbersome, *heavy, weighty, hefty Analogous words: *massive, massy, bulky, substantial: clumsy, *awkward, maladroit: *onerous, burdensome, oppressive, exacting … New Dictionary of Synonyms
ponderous — ► ADJECTIVE 1) slow and clumsy because of great weight. 2) dull or laborious. DERIVATIVES ponderously adverb. ORIGIN Latin ponderosus, from pondus weight … English terms dictionary
ponderous — [[t]pɒ̱ndərəs[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED Ponderous writing or speech is very serious, uses more words than necessary, and is rather dull. He had a dense, ponderous style. Derived words: ponderously ADV GRADED ADV with v ...the rather ponderously titled… … English dictionary
ponderous — pon|der|ous [ˈpɔndərəs US ˈpa:n ] adj [Date: 1300 1400; : French; Origin: pondéreux, from Latin ponderosus, from pondus; PONDER] 1.) slow or awkward because of being very big and heavy ▪ an elephant s ponderous walk 2.) boring, very serious, and… … Dictionary of contemporary English
ponderous — adjective 1 moving slowly or awkwardly because of being very big and heavy: an elephant s ponderous walk 2 boring and too serious: a ponderous and difficult book, intended for experts 3 very big and heavy: Calvin s way was blocked by the… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
ponderous — ponderously, adv. ponderousness, ponderosity /pon deuh ros i tee/, n. /pon deuhr euhs/, adj. 1. of great weight; heavy; massive. 2. awkward or unwieldy: He carried a ponderous burden on his back. 3. dull and labored: a ponderous dissertation.… … Universalium
