Definition of weight
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a
: 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
2a
: a quantity or thing weighing a fixed and usually specified amount
b
: a heavy object (such as a metal ball) thrown, put, or lifted as an athletic exercise or contest
3a
: a unit of weight or mass — see Metric System Table
b
: a piece of material (such as metal) of known specified weight for use in weighing articles
c
: a system of related units of weight
4a
: something heavy : load
b
: a heavy object to hold or press something down or to counterbalance
6a
: 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
7a
: 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 (such 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
verb
weighted; weighting; weights
Definition of weight (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: to oppress with a burden
weighted down with cares
2a
: to load or make heavy with or as if with a weight
b
: to increase in heaviness by adding an ingredient
3a
: weigh sense 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
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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The first known use of weight was before the 12th century
See more words from the same century