n.
- a body's relative mass or the quantity of matter contained by it, giving rise to a downward force; heaviness.
▸Physics the force exerted on the mass of a body by a gravitational field.
▸the quality of being heavy.
▸a unit or system of units used for expressing how much something weighs.
- a piece of metal known to weigh a definite amount and used on scales to determine how heavy something is.
▸a heavy object, especially one being lifted or carried or used as a counterpoise in a mechanism.
▸
(weights)
heavy blocks or discs used in weightlifting or weight training.
- the surface density of cloth, used as a measure of its quality.
- ability to influence decisions or actions.
▸the importance attached to something.
- a feeling of oppression or pressure:
a weight on one's mind.
- Statistics a factor associated with one of a set of numerical quantities, used to represent its importance relative to the other members of the set.
v.
- hold (something) down by placing a heavy object on top of it.
- attach importance or value to.
▸plan or arrange so as to give someone or something an advantage.
- Statistics multiply the components of (an average) by factors to take account of their importance.
- assign a handicap weight to (a horse).
- treat (a fabric) with a mineral to make it seem thicker and heavier.
Phrase
- be worth one's weight in gold
be very useful or helpful. - throw one's weight about
(or around)
informal be unpleasantly self-assertive.
Etymology
OE (ge)wiht, of Gmc origin; form influenced by weigh1.