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Weight   /weɪt/   Listen
noun
Weight  n.  
1.
The quality of being heavy; that property of bodies by which they tend toward the center of the earth; the effect of gravitative force, especially when expressed in certain units or standards, as pounds, grams, etc. Note: Weight differs from gravity in being the effect of gravity, or the downward pressure of a body under the influence of gravity; hence, it constitutes a measure of the force of gravity, and being the resultant of all the forces exerted by gravity upon the different particles of the body, it is proportional to the quantity of matter in the body.
2.
The quantity of heaviness; comparative tendency to the center of the earth; the quantity of matter as estimated by the balance, or expressed numerically with reference to some standard unit; as, a mass of stone having the weight of five hundred pounds. "For sorrow, like a heavy-hanging bell, Once set on ringing, with his own weight goes."
3.
Hence, pressure; burden; as, the weight of care or business. "The weight of this said time." "For the public all this weight he bears." "(He) who singly bore the world's sad weight."
4.
Importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness; as, a consideration of vast weight. "In such a point of weight, so near mine honor."
5.
A scale, or graduated standard, of heaviness; a mode of estimating weight; as, avoirdupois weight; troy weight; apothecaries' weight.
6.
A ponderous mass; something heavy; as, a clock weight; a paper weight. "A man leapeth better with weights in his hands."
7.
A definite mass of iron, lead, brass, or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies; as, an ounce weight.
8.
(Mech.) The resistance against which a machine acts, as opposed to the power which moves it. (Obs.)
Atomic weight. (Chem.) See under Atomic, and cf. Element.
Dead weight, Feather weight, Heavy weight, Light weight, etc. See under Dead, Feather, etc.
Weight of observation (Astron. & Physics), a number expressing the most probable relative value of each observation in determining the result of a series of observations of the same kind.
Synonyms: Ponderousness; gravity; heaviness; pressure; burden; load; importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness.


verb
Weight  v. t.  (past & past part. weighted; pres. part. weighting)  
1.
To load with a weight or weights; to load down; to make heavy; to attach weights to; as, to weight a horse or a jockey at a race; to weight a whip handle. "The arrows of satire,... weighted with sense."
2.
(Astron. & Physics) To assign a weight to; to express by a number the probable accuracy of, as an observation. See Weight of observations, under Weight.
3.
(Dyeing) To load (fabrics) as with barite, to increase the weight, etc.
4.
(Math.) To assign a numerical value expressing relative importance to (a measurement), to be multiplied by the value of the measurement in determining averages or other aggregate quantities; as, they weighted part one of the test twice as heavily as part 2.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Weight" Quotes from Famous Books



... was great, but the state of the coinage made the change tell heavily against the crown. It was impossible to adulterate dues in kind; it was easy to debase the coin when they were paid in money, and that money received by weight, whether it were coin from the royal mints, or the local coinages that had continued from the time of the early English kingdoms, or debased money from the private mints of the barons. Roger of Salisbury, in fact, when placed at the head of the Exchequer, ...
— Henry the Second • Mrs. J. R. Green
... ledge. And Wahb, as he saw this shape of Death relentless on his track, and smelled the hated smell, poised his bulk at heavy cost upon his quivering, mangled arm, there held until the proper instant came, then to his sound arm's matchless native force he added all the weight of desperate hate as down he struck one fearful, crushing blow. The Indian sank without a cry, and then dropped out of sight. Wahb rose, and sought again a quiet nook where he might nurse his wounds. Thus he learned that one must fight for peace; ...
— The Biography of a Grizzly • Ernest Thompson Seton
... know exactly what you leave in my charge, Mr. Robson,' said Louis, beginning to suspect that the clerk fancied that the weight and number of the books and bundles of bills might satisfy his unpractised eye, and that the essential was to be found in the pocket-book, on which he therefore retained a special hold; asking, as Robson held out his hand for it, 'is this ...
— Dynevor Terrace (Vol. II) • Charlotte M. Yonge
... Richard II, of the flying buttresses by which the vault was originally supported, as is still the case with the choir walls. Another roof of groined oak was soon substituted, as less likely to suffer from its own weight. That it was not a specially light structure, however, may be inferred from the massive bosses preserved from it, and now to be seen on the ...
— Bell's Cathedrals: Southwark Cathedral • George Worley
... weight of sail the vessel careened over, and shot foaming forward with new life for a moment. The next, the topsail had burst away from the bolt-ropes with a report as of a cannon-shot, and she had fallen away into the trough of the sea. The mainstay-sail sheet parted at the ...
— The Pilot and his Wife • Jonas Lie


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