–noun

1.	the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.

2.	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.

3.	a system of units for expressing heaviness or mass: avoirdupois weight.

4.	a unit of heaviness or mass: The pound is a common weight in English-speaking countries.

5.	a body of determinate mass, as of metal, for using on a balance or scale in weighing objects, substances, etc.

6.	a specific quantity of a substance that is determined by weighing or that weighs a fixed amount: a half-ounce weight of gold dust.

7.	any heavy load, mass, or object: Put down that weight and rest your arms.

8.	an object used or useful solely because of its heaviness: the weights of a clock.

9.	a mental or moral burden, as of care, sorrow, or responsibility: Knowing you are safe takes a weight off my mind.

10.	importance, moment, consequence, or effective influence: an opinion of great weight.

11.	Statistics. a measure of the relative importance of an item in a statistical population.

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

13.	Printing. (of type) the degree of blackness or boldness.

14.	(esp. 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.

15.	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.

16.	the stress or accent value given a sound, syllable, or word.

–verb ( 370 used with object)

17.	to add weight to; load with additional weight: to weight sacks before dumping them overboard.

18.	to load (fabrics, threads, etc.) with mineral or other matter to increase the weight or bulk.

19.	to burden with or as if with weight (often fol. by down): Financial worries have weighted that family down for years.

20.	Statistics. to give a statistical weight to.

21.	to bias or slant toward a particular goal or direction; manipulate: ed2 The teacher weighted the test so students who had read both books would make the highest marks.

22.	to assign (a racehorse) a specific weight to carry in a race: The handicapper weighted Dapper Dan with 128 pounds.

—Idioms

23.	by weight, according to measurement of heaviness or mass: Rates are determined by weight.

24.	carry weight, to have importance or significance; influence: Her opinion is certain to carry weight.

25.	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.

26.	throw one's weight around or about, to use one's power and influence, esp. beyond the bounds of propriety, to secure some personal gain.

–noun

1.	detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get: to bear the loss of a robbery.

2.	something that is lost: The painting was the greatest loss from the robbery.

3.	an amount or number lost: The loss of life increased each day.

4.	the state of being deprived of or of being without something that one h 23d as had: the loss of old friends.

5.	death, or the fact of being dead: to mourn the loss of a grandparent.

6.	the accidental or inadvertent losing of something dropped, misplaced, stolen, etc.: to discover the loss of a document.

7.	a 3e8 losing by defeat; failure to win: the loss of a bet.

8.	failure to make good use of something, as time; waste.

9.	failure to preserve or maintain: loss of engine speed at high altitudes.

10.	destruction or ruin: the loss of a ship by fire.

11.	a thing or a number of related things that are lost or destroyed to some extent: Most buildings in the burned district were a total loss.

12.	Military. a. the losing of soldiers by death, capture, etc. b. Often, losses. the number of soldiers so lost.

13.	Insurance. occurrence of an event, as death or damage of property, for which the insurer makes indemnity under the terms of a policy.

14.	Electricity. a measure of the power lost in a system, as by conversion to heat, expressed as a relation between power input and power output, as the ratio of or difference between the two quantities.

—Idiom

15.	at a loss, a. at less than cost; at a financial loss. b. in a state of bewilderment or uncertainty; puzzled; perplexed: We are completely at a loss for an answer to the problem.

–verb (used with object)

1.	to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serve as a foundation for.

2.	to sustain or withstand (weight, pressure, strain, etc.) without giving way; serve as a prop for.

3.	to undergo or endure, esp. with patience or submission; tolerate.

4.	to sustain (a person, the mind, spirits, courage, etc.) under trial or affliction: They supported him throughout his ordeal.

5.	to maintain (a person, family, establishment, institution, etc.) by supplying with things necessary to existence; provide for: to support a family.

6.	to uphold (a person, cause, policy, etc.) by aid, countenance, one's vote, etc.; back; second.

7.	to maintain or advocate (a theory, principle, etc.).

8.	to corroborate (a statement, opinion, etc.): Leading doctors supported his testimony.

9.	to act with or second (a lead performer); assist in performance: The star was supported by a talented newcomer.

–noun

10.	the act or an instance of supporting.

11.	the state of being supported.

12.	something that serves as a foundation, prop, brace, or stay.

13.	maintenance, as of a person or family, with necessaries, means, or funds: to pay for support of an orphan.

14.	a person or thing that supports, as financially: The pension was his only support.

15.	a person or thing that gives aid or assistance.

16.	an actor, actress, or group performing with a lead performer.

17.	the material, as canvas or wood, on which a picture is painted.

18.	Stock Exchange. support level.

–adjective

19.	(of hosiery) made with elasticized fibers so as to fit snugly on the legs, thereby aiding circulation, relieving fatigue, etc.

–noun

1.	any collection or assemblage of persons or things; cluster; aggregation: a group of protesters; a remarkable group of paintings.

2.	a number of persons or things ranged or considered together as being related in some way.

3.	Also called radical. Chemistry. two or more atoms specifically arranged, as the hydroxyl group, –OH. Compare free radical.

4.

Linguistics. a. (in the classification of related languages within a family) a category of a lower order than a subbranch and of a higher order than a subgroup: the Low German group of West Germanic languages. b. any grouping of languages, whether it is made on the basis of geography, genetic relationship, or something else.

5.	Geology. a division of stratified rocks comprising two or more formations.

6.	Military. a. Army. a flexible administrative and tactical unit consisting of two or more battalions and a headquarters. b. Air Force. an administrative and operational unit subordinate to a wing, usually composed of two or more squadrons.

7.	Music. a section of an orchestra comprising the instruments of the same class.

8.	Art. a number of figures or objects shown in an arrangement together.

9.

Mathematics. an algebraic system that is closed under an associative operation, as multiplication or addition, and in which there is an identity element that, on operating on another element, leaves the second element unchanged, and in which each element has corresponding to it a unique eleme d46 nt that, on operating on the first, results in the identity element.

10.	Grammar (chiefly British). a phrase: nominal group; verbal group.

–verb (used with object)

11.	to place or associate together in a group, as with others.

12.	to arrange in or form into a group or groups.

–verb (used without object)

13.	to form a group.

14.	to be part of a group.