Search

the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
Physics. the force that gravitation exerts upon a body, equal to the mass of the body times the local acceleration of gravity: commonly taken, in a region of constant gravitational acceleration, as a measure of mass.
a system of units for expressing heaviness or mass:
avoirdupois weight.
a unit of heaviness or mass:
The pound is a common weight in English-speaking countries.
a body of determinate mass, as of metal, for using on a balance or scale in weighing objects, substances, etc.
a specific quantity of a substance that is determined by weighing or that weighs a fixed amount:
a half-ounce weight of gold dust.
any heavy load, mass, or object:
Put down that weight and rest your arms.
an object used or useful solely because of its heaviness:
the weights of a clock.
a mental or moral burden, as of care, sorrow, or responsibility:
Knowing you are safe takes a weight off my mind.
importance, moment, consequence, or effective influence:
an opinion of great weight.
Statistics. a measure of the relative importance of an item in a statistical population.

relative heaviness or thickness as related to warmth or to seasonal use (often used in combination):
a winter-weight jacket.
relative heaviness or thickness as related to use:
a bolt of coat-weight woolen cloth.

Printing. (of type) the degree of blackness or boldness.
(especially in boxing) a division or class to which a contestant belongs according to how much he weighs:
two brothers who fight professionally in the same weight.
the total amount the jockey, saddle, and leads must weigh on a racehorse during a race, according to the conditions of the race:
Jacinto has a weight of 122 pounds in the seventh race.
the stress or accent value given a sound, syllable, or word.
to add weight to; load with additional weight:
to weight sacks before dumping them overboard.
to load (fabrics, threads, etc.) with mineral or other matter to increase the weight or bulk.
to burden with or as if with weight (often followed by down):
Financial worries have weighted that family down for years.
Statistics. to give a statistical weight to.
to bias or slant toward a particular goal or direction; manipulate:
The teacher weighted the test so students who had read both books would make the highest marks.
to assign (a racehorse) a specific weight to carry in a race:
The handicapper weighted Dapper Dan with 128 pounds.
by weight, according to measurement of heaviness or mass:
Rates are determined by weight.
carry weight, to have importance or significance; influence:
Her opinion is certain to carry weight.
pull one’s weight, to contribute one’s rightful share of work to a project or job:
We will finish in time if we each pull our weight.
Also, pull one’s own weight.
throw one’s weight around / about, to use one’s power and influence, especially beyond the bounds of propriety, to secure some personal gain.
Contemporary Examples

Michelle Obama’s 11 Diet and Fitness Secrets Isabel Wilkinson August 21, 2012
Fitness Tracker 101: Everything You Need to Know About Your New Gadget Megan Humphreys December 26, 2013
Inside a Supermodel’s Suicide Peter Davis November 22, 2009
Obama in ‘Excellent Health’ Daniel Stone October 30, 2011
Will I Get Fat? 15 Signs You’ll Gain Weight Anneli Rufus November 9, 2011

Historical Examples

The Borough Treasurer Joseph Smith Fletcher
Diggers in the Earth Eva March Tappan
The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Two Abraham Lincoln
En Route J.-K. (Joris-Karl) Huysmans
The Open Air Richard Jefferies

noun
a measure of the heaviness of an object; the amount anything weighs
(physics) the vertical force experienced by a mass as a result of gravitation. It equals the mass of the body multiplied by the acceleration of free fall. Its units are units of force (such as newtons or poundals) but is often given as a mass unit (kilogram or pound) W
a system of units used to express the weight of a substance: troy weight
a unit used to measure weight: the kilogram is the weight used in the metric system
any mass or heavy object used to exert pressure or weigh down
an oppressive force: the weight of cares
any heavy load: the bag was such a weight
the main or greatest force: preponderance: the weight of evidence
importance, influence, or consequence: his opinion carries weight
(statistics) one of a set of coefficients assigned to items of a frequency distribution that are analysed in order to represent the relative importance of the different items
(printing) the apparent blackness of a printed typeface
(slang) a pound of a drug, esp cannabis
(informal) pull one’s weight, to do one’s full or proper share of a task
(informal) throw one’s weight around, to act in an overauthoritarian or aggressive manner
verb (transitive)
to add weight to
to burden or oppress
to add importance, value, etc, to one side rather than another; bias; favour: a law weighted towards landlords
(statistics) to attach a weight or weights to
to make (fabric, threads, etc) heavier by treating with mineral substances, etc
n.

weight
(wāt)

Our Living Language : Although most hand-held calculators can translate pounds into kilograms, an absolute conversion factor between these two units is not technically sound. A pound is a unit of force, and a kilogram is a unit of mass. When the unit pound is used to indicate the force that a gravitational field exerts on a mass, the pound is a unit of weight. Mistaking weight for mass is tantamount to confusing the electric charges on two objects with the forces of attraction (or repulsion) between them. Like charge, the mass of an object is an intrinsic property of that object: electrons have a unique mass, protons have a unique mass, and some particles, such as photons, have no mass. Weight, on the other hand, is a force due to the gravitational attraction between two bodies. For example, one’s weight on the Moon is 1/6 of one’s weight on Earth. Nevertheless, one’s mass on the Moon is identical to one’s mass on Earth. The reason that hand-held calculators can translate between units of weight and units of mass is that the majority of us use calculators on the planet Earth at sea level, where the conversion factor is constant for all practical purposes.

: specimen of wee-wee
The penis

see:

by weight
carry weight
dead weight
pull one’s weight
put on weight
throw one’s weight around
worth one’s weight in gold

;