tip the scales

phrase

1

: to register weight

tips the scales at 285 pounds

2

: to shift the balance of power or influence

… tipped the scales in favor of a declaration of war …

—S. F. Bemis

Examples of tip the scales in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But these distressed firm are also much smaller operations, where a shift in consumer spending could tip the scales in the wrong direction. — Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 14 July 2026

The hard-top version tips the scales at just 2,789 pounds, giving it the best power-to-weight ratio in the series. — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 10 July 2026

The extreme power users definitely tipped the scales, as just two percent of them in the fiction category were responsible for more than 80 percent of the conversations. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 8 July 2026

Perhaps the biggest satellite riding the Falcon 9 on Tuesday was CAS500-4, a South Korean Earth-observation craft that tips the scales at about 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms). — Mike Wall, Space.com, 7 July 2026

Rhymes for tip the scales

• ails
• ales
• bailes
• bails
• bales
• dales
• dalles
• fails
• gales
• hails
• hales
• jails