Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Weigh?

\Weigh\ (w[=a]), n. (Naut.) A corruption of {Way}, used only in the phrase {under weigh}. An expedition was got under weigh from New York. --Thackeray. The Athenians . . . hurried on board and with considerable difficulty got under weigh. --Jowett (Thucyd.).
\Weigh\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Weighed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Weighing}.] [OE. weien, weyen, weghen, AS. wegan to bear, move; akin to D. wegen to weigh, G. w["a]gen, wiegen, to weigh, bewegen to move, OHG. wegan, Icel. vega to move, carry, lift, weigh, Sw. v["a]ga to weigh, Dan. veie, Goth. gawigan to shake, L. vehere to carry, Skr. vah. ????. See {Way}, and cf. {Wey}.] 1. To bear up; to raise; to lift into the air; to swing up; as, to weigh anchor. ``Weigh the vessel up.'' --Cowper. 2. To examine by the balance; to ascertain the weight of, that is, the force with which a thing tends to the center of the earth; to determine the heaviness, or quantity of matter of; as, to weigh sugar; to weigh gold. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. --Dan. v. 27. 3. To be equivalent to in weight; to counterbalance; to have the heaviness of. ``A body weighing divers ounces.'' --Boyle. 4. To pay, allot, take, or give by weight. They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. --Zech. xi. 12. 5. To examine or test as if by the balance; to ponder in the mind; to consider or examine for the purpose of forming an opinion or coming to a conclusion; to estimate deliberately and maturely; to balance. A young man not weighed in state affairs. --Bacon. Had no better weighed The strength he was to cope with, or his own. --Milton. Regard not who it is which speaketh, but weigh only what is spoken. --Hooker. In nice balance, truth with gold she weighs. --Pope. Without sufficiently weighing his expressions. --Sir W. Scott. 6. To consider as worthy of notice; to regard. [Obs. or Archaic] ``I weigh not you.'' --Shak. All that she so dear did weigh. --Spenser. {To weigh down}. (a) To overbalance. (b) To oppress with weight; to overburden; to depress. ``To weigh thy spirits down.'' --Milton.
\Weigh\, v. i. 1. To have weight; to be heavy. ``They only weigh the heavier.'' --Cowper. 2. To be considered as important; to have weight in the intellectual balance. Your vows to her and me . . . will even weigh. --Shak. This objection ought to weigh with those whose reading is designed for much talk and little knowledge. --Locke. 3. To bear heavily; to press hard. Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart. --Shak. 4. To judge; to estimate. [R.] Could not weigh of worthiness aright. --Spenser. {To weigh down}, to sink by its own weight.
\Weigh\, n. [See {Wey}.] A certain quantity estimated by weight; an English measure of weight. See {Wey}.