heaving

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of heave

adj

1. (informal)Crowded with people.

   “2006, Tim Downie, "Ride Report: Bealach-na-Ba", uk.rec.cycling http://groups.google.com/group/uk.rec.cycling/browse_thread/thread/af08b5a62b82262c/192dcd8f8dca7b8e?lnk=st&q=%22was+heaving%22&rnum=7#192dcd8f8dca7b8e Kinlochewe was heaving with cyclists and their vehicles on Saturday morning but somehow, the organisers had found space for everyone and the main roads were kept clear.”

   “2006, "Krusty", "Krusty's Holiday", uk.rec.motorcycles, http://groups.google.com/group/uk.rec.motorcycles/browse_thread/thread/f3c43a458f94a29b/bdff0eb3decbb853?lnk=st&q=%22was+heaving%22&rnum=99# The pool was heaving with screaming kids. By contrast the beach was virtually deserted, apart from the one day a cruise ship docked & a group of about 10 people appeared.”

   “2007, "Jamie", "Hyde Park Calling 2007", "classic rock magazine readers", http://groups.google.com/group/classic-rock-mag-readers/browse_thread/thread/7a5dc153e8401fb9/e32feaabd9dc9423?lnk=st&q=%22was+heaving%22&rnum=8# At this time it was pissing down and by the time Joe Satriani came on the tent was heaving with people just coming in to keep dry.”

   “"You know what Paddington is like when it's absolutely heaving. There is nowhere for kids. You're holding their hands, you're holding the luggage, you're trying to move the pram, you're working out where to go. It really is quite stressful.”

2. Of the chest, rising and falling noticeably from exertion, emotion, or laboured breathing.
3. (literary)Of the bosom, full, ample, or voluptuous in form, irrespective of movement.

   “And here I might (if I followed the example of most travellers) launch out into a glowing description of the charms of these damsels, the elegant costumes they wore, and the gold and silver ornaments with which they were adorned. The jacket or body of purple gauze would figure well in such a description, allowing the heaving bosom to be seen beneath it, while "sparkling eyes," and "jetty tresses," and "tiny feet" might be thrown in profusely. But, alas!”

noun

1. An occasion on which something heaves or is heaved.

   “No swellings tell that winds may be Upon some far-off happier sea-- No heavings hint that winds have been On seas less hideously serene."”

   “His throne rocked with subterraneous heavings.”

   “Then he set the jug down wrong side up, and remained glaring at it fixedly, while his chest rose and fell in deep heavings.”