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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Weight

Weight, n.

noun

(wāt), n. [A-S. wiht, gewicht, L. Ger. wicht, wigt, Icel. & Sw. vigt, Dan. vāgt, M. H. Ger. gewicht, N. H. Ger. gewicht. See WEIGH.] 1. The quality of being heavy; that property of bodies by which they tend toward the center of the earth; gravity. Weight differs from gravity in being the effect of gravity, or the downward pressure of a body under the influence of gravity; hence, it constitutes a measure of the force of gravity, and being the resultant of all the forces exerted by gravity upon the different particles of the body, it is proportional to the quantity of matter in the body.

  1. Quantity of heaviness; comparative tendency to the center of the earth; that which any thing weighs; quantity of matter as estimated by the balance, or expressed numerically with reference to some standard unit; as, a mass of stone having the weight of five hundred pounds.
  2. Hence, pressure; burden; importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness; as, the weight of care or business; a consideration of vast weight. “The weight of this sad time.” Shak.

For the public all this weight he bears. Milton.

  1. A scale or graduated standard of heaviness; a mode of estimating weight; as, troy weight; apothecaries’ weight.
  2. A ponderous mass; something heavy.

A man leaps better with weights in his hands. Bacon.

  1. A definite mass of iron, lead, brass, or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies; as, an ounce weight.
  2. (Mech.) The resistance against which a machine acts, as opposed to the power which moves it; in the simple mechanical powers, usually a heavy body to be set in motion or held in equilibrium by the power, as in the lever, pulley, and the like.
  3. (Med.) A sensation of heaviness or pressure over the whole body, or over a part of it. Dunglison.

Weight of observations (Astron. & Physics), a number expressing the most probable relative value of each observation in determining the result of a series of observations of the same kind. Syn.—Ponderousness; gravity; heaviness; pressure; burden; load; importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness.

Weight, v. t.

verbtransitive

(wāt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. WEIGHTED; p. pr. & vb. n. WEIGHTING.] To load with a weight or weights; to load down; to make heavy; to attach weights to; as, to weight a horse or jockey at a race; to weight a whip-handle. “The arrows of satire, feathered with wit, weighted with sense.” Coleridge.