weight

¹weight

noun \ˈwāt\

Definition of WEIGHT

1

a : the amount that a thing weighs

b (1) : the standard or established amount that a thing should weigh (2) : one of the classes into which contestants in a sports event are divided according to body weight (3) : poundage required to be carried by a horse in a handicap race

2

a : a quantity or thing weighing a fixed and usually specified amount

b : a heavy object (as a metal ball) thrown, put, or lifted as an athletic exercise or contest

3

a : a unit of weight or mass — see metric system table

b : a piece of material (as metal) of known specified weight for use in weighing articles

c : a system of related units of weight

4

a : something heavy : load

b : a heavy object to hold or press something down or to counterbalance

5

a : burden, pressure <the weight of their responsibilities>

b : the quality or state of being ponderous

c : corpulence

6

a : relative heaviness : mass

b : the force with which a body is attracted toward the earth or a celestial body by gravitation and which is equal to the product of the mass and the local gravitational acceleration

7

a : the relative importance or authority accorded something <the weight of her opinions>

b : measurable influence especially on others <throwing his weight behind the proposal>

8

: overpowering force

9

: the quality (as lightness) that makes a fabric or garment suitable for a particular use or season —often used in combination <summer-weight>

10

: a numerical coefficient assigned to an item to express its relative importance in a frequency distribution

11

: the degree of thickness of the strokes of a type character

weight table

Examples of WEIGHT

1. Please indicate your height and weight on the form.
2. Her weight is 105 pounds.
3. The boat sank under the weight of the cargo.
4. Those columns have to be strong enough to support the weight of the roof.
5. He stays in good shape by lifting weights.
6. I use pie weights to keep the pie crust from bubbling when I bake it.

Origin of WEIGHT

Middle English wight, weght, from Old English wiht; akin to Old Norse vætt weight, Old English wegan to weigh

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to WEIGHT

Synonyms

avoirdupois, heaviness, heft

Antonyms

insignificance, littleness, puniness, slightness, smallness, triviality

Related Words

bulk, mass; poundage, tonnage; deadweight; heftiness, massiveness, ponderousness, weightiness; solidity, solidness, substantiality, substantialness

Near Antonyms

paltriness, pettiness, valuelessness, worthlessness; discredit, disgrace, dishonor, disrepute, ignominy, infamy, odium, opprobrium, shame; anonymity; obscurity

See Synonym Discussion at importance, influence

Other Weights and Measures Terms

avoirdupois weight, calorie, denier, kip, pace, twain

Rhymes with WEIGHT

ait, bait, bate, blate, cate, crate, date, eight, fate, fete, freight, gait, gate, grate, great, haet, hate, late, mate, pate, plait, plate, prate, quoit, rate, sate, skate, slate, spate, state, straight, strait, teth, trait, wait

²weight

transitive verb

Definition of WEIGHT

1

: to oppress with a burden <weighted down with cares>

2

a : to load or make heavy with or as if with a weight

b : to increase in heaviness by adding an ingredient

3

a : weigh 1

b : to feel the weight of : heft

4

: to assign a statistical weight to

5

: to cause to incline in a particular direction by manipulation <the tax structure … which was weighted so heavily in favor of the upper classes — A. S. Link>

6

: to shift the burden of weight upon <weight the inside ski>

Examples of WEIGHT

1. I weighted the fishing line with a lead sinker.
2. <weighted the car with a ton of furniture and then headed off for college>

First Known Use of WEIGHT

1647

Related to WEIGHT

Synonyms

burden, encumber, freight, lade, laden, lumber, saddle, load

Antonyms

disburden, discharge, disencumber, unburden, unlade, unload

Related Words

clog, clutter, fill, pack; heap, mound, pile, stack; press, weigh; strain, tax; overburden, overload, overtax, surcharge; hamper, handicap; afflict, oppress

Near Antonyms

alleviate, ease, lighten, relieve

weight

noun \ˈwāt\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of WEIGHT

1

: the amount that a thing weighs

2

: a unit of weight or mass

weight

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Gravitational force of attraction on an object, caused by the presence of a massive second object, such as the Earth or Moon. It is a consequence of Isaac Newton's universal law of gravitation, which states that the force of attraction between two objects is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. For this reason, objects of greater mass weigh more on the surface of the Earth. On the other hand, an object's weight on the Moon is about one-sixth of its weight on Earth, even though its mass remains the same, because the Moon has less mass and a smaller radius than the Earth and therefore exerts less gravitational force. Weight W is the product of an object's mass m and the acceleration of gravity g at the location of the object, or W = mg. Since weight is a measure of force rather than mass, the units of weight in the International System of Units are newtons (N). In common usage, weight is measured by the gram in the metric system and by the ounce and pound in the U.S. and British systems.