Weigh Definition
Contents
English
Etymology
Old English wegan, from Germanic. Cognate with Scots wey or weich, Dutch wegen, German wiegen.
Pronunciation
Rhymes: -eɪ
Verb
to weigh (third-person singular simple present weighs, present participle weighing, simple past and past participle weighed)
- (transitive) To determine the weight of an object.
- (transitive) Often with "out", to measure a certain amount of something by its weight, e.g. for sale.
- He weighed out two kilos of oranges for a client.
- (transitive, metaphorical) To determine the intrinsic value or merit of an object, to evaluate.
- You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
- (transitive) To consider a subject.
- (intransitive) To have a certain weight.
- I weigh ten and a half stone.
- (transitive, nautical) To raise an anchor free of the seabed.
- (intransitive, nautical) To weigh anchor.
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 91:
- Towards the evening we wayed, and approaching the shoare [...], we landed where there lay a many of baskets and much bloud, but saw not a Salvage.
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 91:
Derived terms
terms derived from weigh (verb)
|