weigh 
V vah, go, move. The orig. sense ' carry' passed 
into that of ' raise, lift,' and thenee into that of 
'weigh.' Hence ult. (< AS. wegan, ete.) wag^, 
wagon, wain^, weiyl, wight^, whit, and (< L. Ve- 
here) vehicle, convection, etc. : see esp. way^.^ I. 
trans. 1. To raise or lift ; bear up : as, to weigh 
anchor; to weigh a ship that has been sunk. 
And BO ye same momyiig we wayde our ancre and made 
sayle, and come into the foresayd hauyn at Mylo. 
Sir R. Ouyl/orde, Pylgrymage, p. 63. 
[The ship] struck upon a rock, and, being forced to run 
ashore to save her men, could never be weighed since, al- 
though she lies a gieat height above the water. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 3. 
2. To bear up or balance in order to determine 
the weight of ; determine the relative heaviness 
of (something) by comparison in a balance 
with some recognized standard; ascertain the 
number of pounds, ounces, etc., in : as, to weigh 
sugar; to weigh gold. 
Like BtuSe baue I read in 3. Francis Legend, of the bal- 
lance wherein mens deedes are weighed, and the Deuill 
lost his prey by the weight of a Chalice. 
Purckcu, Pilgiimagc, p. 140. 
The hunter took up his rifle instinctively from the comer 
of the room, leeighed it in both hands held palm upward. 
»'. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 297. 
3. To consider or examine for the purpose of 
forming an opinion or coming to a conclusion ; 
compare ; estimate deliberately and maturely ; 
balance; ponder: as, to weigh the advantages 
and disadvantages of a scheme. 
In noble coi'age oghte been areste. 
And tceyen eveiy thing by equitee. 
Chaucer, Good Women, I. 398. 
Wherefore I pray you weigh this with yourself the bet- 
ter, and see whether you can espy how your doctrine is 
doubtful. J. Drad/ord, letters (Parker Soc., IS-W), II. 13U. 
Regard not who it is which speaketh, but weigh only 
what is spoken. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, Pref. , i. 
Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh. 
Shak., M. N. D., iii. 2. 131. 
4f. To consider as worthy of notice ; make ac- 
count of ; care for ; regard ; esteem. 
You weigh me not 'I O, that 's you care not for me. 
Shak., L. L. L, v. 2. 27. 
You are light, gentlemen. 
Nothing to weigh your hearts. 
Fletcher and Shirley, Night- Walker, i. 1. 
8. To overweigh or overpower ; burden ; op- 
press. See the following phrase To weigh 
down, (of) To preponderate over. 
Ue weight King Ricliaid down. 
Shak., Rich. 11., iii. 4. 89. 
{h) To oppress with weight or heaviness ; overburden ; 
depress. 
Thou [sleep] no more wilt weigh my eyelids down. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iii. 1. 7. 
H. intrans. 1. To weigh anchor ; get under 
way or in readiness to sail. 
When he was aboard his bark, he weighed and set sail, 
and shut off all his gnus. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 232. 
The vessel iceighg, forsakes the shore, 
And lessens to the sight. 
Cowper, The Bird's Nest. 
2. To have weight, literally or figuratively. 
Alliances, how near soever, wei'/h but light in the .Scales 
of State. Baker, Chronicles, p. 117. 
3. To be or amount in heaviness or weight; 
be of equal effect with in the balance: as, a 
nugget weighing several ounces; a load which 
weiyhg two tons. The terms expressing the weight 
are in the ativerbial objective. That which a lialance 
measures is the proportionate acceleration of masses to- 
ward the center of the earth. This is equal to their pro- 
portionate masses ; and mnsn is the important quantity 
determined. The weight, or attraction of gravitation (less 
the centrifugal force), dirfers at different stations, and is 
not determined by the operation of weighing. 
And the Frensshe kyng gaue hyni a goblet of syluer 
weynge ilil, marke. 
Bern^rs, tr. of Froissai-t's Chron., II. Ixxxvii. 
Master Featherstone, O Master Featherstone, you may 
now make your fortunes weigh ten stone of feathers more 
than ever they did ! 
Dekker and Webgter, Northward Ho, v. 1. 
4. To be consiilercd as important ; have weight 
in the intellectual balance. 
He finds . . . that the same argument which weighs with 
him has weighed with thousands . . . before him. 
Bp. Alterbury, Sennona, II. ii. 
Such considerations never weigh with them. 
Qoldamith, Citizen of the World, xci. 
6. To bear heavily ; press hard. 
Cleanse the stutf'd bosom of that perilous stuff 
Which weighs uiM,n the heart. 
Shak., Macbeth, v. 3. 45. 
6. To consider; reflect. 
My tongue was never oil'd with '* Here, an 't like you," 
"There, I beseech you"; weigh, I am a soldier. 
And truth Z covet only, no tine terms, sir. 
t'lelcher. Loyal Subject, ii. 1. 
6871 
The soldiers, lees weighing because less knowing, clam- 
oured to be led on against any danger. 
Milton, Hist. Eng., ii. 
To weigh down, to sink by its own weight or burden. 
The softness of the stalk, which maketh the bough, be- 
ing over-loaden, . . . weigh down. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist., § 610. 
To weigh In, in sporting, to ascertain one's weight before 
the contest. Whyte Melville, White Rose, I. xiv. 
•weighl (wa), ». [< trnj/Zil, J).] A certain quan- 
tity or measure, estimated by weight ; a mea- 
sure of weight (compare wey) ; in the South 
Wales coal-fields, a weight of ten tons. 
weigh^ (wa), n. A misspelling of (t'fiyl, in the 
phrase under way, due to confusion with the 
phrase to weigh anchor. 
We lost no time in getting under neigh again. 
B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 230. 
weigll^t, ». See wegh. 
weighable (wa'a-bl), a. [< weiyh'^ + -able.'] 
Capable of being weighed. 
'Weighage (wa'aj), n. [< weight + -age.} A 
rate or toll paid for the weighing of goods. 
Inq). Diet. 
'Weigh-batlk (wil'bak), «. The beam of a bal- 
ance; hence, in the plural, a pair of scales. 
[Scotch.] 
Capering in the air in a pair of weigh-bauks, now up, 
now down. Scott, Redgauntlet, xxiv. (Encyc. Diet.) 
'Weigh-beam (wa'bem), n. A weighing-scale 
carried by a wooden or iron horse, for conve- 
nience in weighing freight at a dock or railroad- 
station ; a portable scale used by custom-house 
weighers, etc. 
■weigll-boardCwa'bord),?!. In mining. Seew-ay- 
boaril. 
weigh-bridge(wa'brij), «. A weighing-machine 
for weigliing carts, wagons, etc., with their 
load. 
weigh-can (wa'kan), n. A reservoir from which 
supplies are drawn, so connected with a scale 
that any desired weight may be conveniently 
drawn out. 
■weighedt (wad), a. Balanced ; experienced. 
A young man not weighed in state matters. Bacon. 
■weigher (wa'6r), n. [< ME. leeycre (= MLG. 
MHG. weger); < weight -1- -e»-l.] 1. One who 
or that which weighs ; an officer whose duty it 
is to weigh commodities or test weights. — 2t. 
The equator. 
This same cercle is cleped also the weyere (equator) of 
tlie day, for, whan the sonne is in the hevedcs of Aries and 
Libra, than ben the dales and the nyhtes illike of lenghtlie 
in the world. Chaiccer, Astrolabe, i. sec. 17. 
Backer and weigher. Sec sackeri. 
weighership (wa'6r-ship), «. [< weigher + 
-xliip.'] The office of weigher. 
weigh-house (wa'hous), «. A building (gener- 
ally of a public character) at or in which goods 
are weighed by suitable apparatus. 
He shall, with an hour's lying in the pulpit, get enough 
to find thirty or ftjrty sturdy lubbers a month long, of 
which the weakest shall be as strong in the belly, wlten 
he Cometh unto the manger, as the mightiest iwrter in the 
weigh-ltouse. 
Tyndale, Ana. to Sir T. More, etc. (Parker Soc., 1860X p. 76. 
weighing (wa'ing), n. [< ME. wcyynge, weynge ; 
verbal n. of ifci(//|i,ti.] 1. The act of ascertain- 
ing weight. — 2. As much as is weighed at once : 
as, a weighing of beef. Imp. Diet. — 3. Same as 
weighting. 
weighing-cage(wa'ing-kaj),n. Aeage in which 
living animiils, as pigs, sheep, and calves, may 
be conveniently weighed. 
weighing-house (wa'ing-hous), «. Same as 
wcigh-hoii.ic. 
weighing-machine (wii'iiig-ma-shen'''), «. Any 
contrivance by which the weight of an object 
may be ascertained, as the 
common balance, spring- 
balance, steelyard, etc. 
See cuts under balance 
and steelyard. The term is, 
however, generally applied only 
to those contrivances which 
are employed for ascertaining 
the weight of heavy bodies, as 
the machines for the purpose 
of determining the weights of 
laden vehicles, machines for 
weighing cattle, machines for 
weighing heavy goods, as large 
casks, bales, etc. The hydro- 
Ktatic weighing-machine (see 
cut) consists essentialiy of a 
strong cylinder within which 
moves a tightly packed jiistoii, 
the space being Hlled with cas- 
tor-oH ; the loop above is at- 
tached to the cylinder and tlie 
ring below to the piston. When 
the object to be weigh"d is hung on the ring, the piston 
presses on the oil, and this puf^ses by a channel to a gage 
Hydrostatic Weiuhiny-iiia- 
chine. 
weight 
which indicates by the motion of the index on the dial 
the weight In pounds and tons. 
weighing- scoop (wa'lng-skop), n. A combined 
scoop and spring-balance. The spring is in the han- 
dle of the scoop, and while the scoop is being filled the 
spring is held in place by a stop controlled by the thumb. 
On raising the loaded scoop the atop is released, and the 
weight of the contents is indicated on the liandle. E. H. 
Knight. 
weigh-lock (wa'lok), n. A canal-lock at which 
barges are weighed and their tonnage is set- 
tled. 
Weighman (wa'man), n. ; pi. tvcighmen (-men). 
A weigher. [Rare.] 
Two weeks after the coopers' strike came tlie strike of 
the lightermen and weigkmen. 
U. S. Com. Rep., No. Ixv. (1886), p. 266. 
Weigh-shaft (wa'shaft), n. In a steam-engine, 
a rocking-shaft or rocker-shaft. 
weight^ (wat), n. [Formerly also waiffht; < ME. 
weif/ht, xceiht€y weigte, iveght, wight, ivigt, < AS. ge- 
wiht, weight, = MLG. ivicht, geicicht = D. geicigt 
= OHG. ""gewihtj MHG. gewiht, gcwihte,\}, ge~ 
tcicJit, weight, = leel. vaftt = Sw. vigt = Dan. 
vsegt, weight; with formative ~t, < AS. wegan, 
etc., raise, lift: see weight. The reg. mod. form 
would be wight (parallel with night, sight, etc.); 
the present vowel-form is due to conformity 
with the verb tveigh^.^ 1. Downward force of 
a body; gravity; heaviness; ponderousness ; 
more exactly, the resultant of the force of the 
earth's gravitation and of the centrifugal pres- 
sure from its axis of rotation, considered as a 
property of the body affected by it. Considerable 
confusion has existed between weight and mass, the latter 
being the quantity of matter as measured by the ratio of 
the momentum of a body to its velocity. Weight, in this 
the proper sense of the word, is sonietliitig which varies 
with tlie latitude of the station at which the heavy body 
is, being greater by ^^g of itself at the poles than at 
the equator; it also varies considerably with the ele- 
vation atwve the sea (ruVs for every kilometer). The 
weights of different bodies at one and the same station 
were proved, by Newton's experiments with penilulnms 
of different material, to be in the ratio of their masses, 
and irrespective of their chemical composition ; conse- 
quently, a balance which shows the equality of weight of 
two bodies at one station also shows the eijuality of their 
masses. In determining the specillc gravity of a hotly, 
it is hung by a fine thread to one pan of the balance, 
and immei-sed completely in water. The reduced number 
of pounds, ounces, etc., which is required in the other 
pan to lialance the first, under these circnmstances, is 
called the weight of the body in water. In like manner, 
we speak of the weight in air and the weight in water. 
These expressions forbid our conceiving of weight as sy- 
n(»nynious with the quantity of matter; and yet, when a 
pound is said to be a unit of weight, although it is in- 
tended to be carried up mountains and to distant jilaces, 
ma88,orquantityofmatter,must be understood, since there 
is no important quantity but the quantity of nnitter which 
a pound or a kilogram measures. The confusion is in- 
creased when the pound is defined, as it still is in the 
United States, by the weight of a certain standard in air, 
without reference to the height of the barometer imd ther- 
mometer. In the older books on mechanics, a pound is 
taken as a force, and the quantity of matter is obtained 
by dividing the weight by the measure of gravity ; but now 
both the theoretical books and tlie legal definitions of the 
standards used in weighing make the pound, kilo, etc., to 
be masses, or quantities of matter, whose weight is ob- 
tained by multiplying them by the acceleration of gravity 
at any station. Nevertheless, the older system still finds 
a few supporters. It was long after Galileo bad firmly es- 
tablished the law of falling bodies liefore it occurred to 
anybody that weight was a force. Gravity, so far ns eom- 
iium observation shows, draws bodies to the eartli alone, 
and that in parallel lines, and Galileo had shown that it 
accelerates all bodies alike, whether they are great or 
.small, so that there was nothing to suggest tlie idea of 
force, especially as that idea was then in its infancy, and 
had not attained its present prominence in the minds of 
men. Weight in those days being hjoked upon as a jirop- 
erty of single bodies, and not as subsisting between pairs 
of bodies, was necessarily confounded with mass; and a 
mental inertia, or natural clinging to old conceptions, 
kept up the confusion after Newton had demonstrated the 
true law of gravitation. For the units of weight, see def. 5. 
Abbreviated ui. 
Alias that I bihighte 
Of pnred gold a thousand pound of nighfc 
Chaucer, Franklin's Tule, 1. 832. 
So Ilelgian mounds bear on their shattered sides 
The sea's whole weight, increased with swelling tides. 
Addison, The C'jiinpaign. 
Though a pound or a gramme is the same nil over the 
world, the weight of a pound or a gninime is greater in 
high latitudes than near the equator. 
Clerk Maxioell, Matter and Motion, Art. xlvii. 
2. Mass; relative quantity of matter.— 3. A 
heavy mass; specifically, something used on 
account of its weight or its mass. Tims, the use- 
fulness of the weights that a man holds in his hands in 
leaping or jumping lies in the addition they impart to 
his momentum, and their dragging him down is a disad- 
vantage ; but the weights of a clock are for giving a down- 
ward pull, and their momentum is practically nothing. 
A man leapeth better with weights in bis hands than 
without. Bacon, Nat. Hist., § 0D9. 
Both men and women in Cochin acc<mnt it a great Gal- 
lantrie to hane wide eares, whieh therfore they stretch 
by arte, banging waights on them till they reach t<» their 
shoulders. Vurchas, I'ilgrimage, p. 494. 
