Weight Definition–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
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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:
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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 (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: 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 impo
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rtance 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. | |
