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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Weakest

Weak \Weak\ (w[=e]k), a. [Compar. Weaker (w[=e]k"[~e]r); superl. Weakest.] [OE. weik, Icel. veikr; akin to Sw. vek, Dan. veg soft, flexible, pliant, AS. w[=a]c weak, soft, pliant, D. week, G. weich, OHG. weih; all from the verb seen in Icel. v[=i]kja to turn, veer, recede, AS. w[=i]can to yield, give way, G. weichen, OHG. w[=i]hhan, akin to Skr. vij, and probably to E. week, L. vicis a change, turn, Gr. e'i`kein to yield, give way. [root]132. Cf. Week, Wink, v. i. Vicissitude.]

  1. Wanting physical strength. Specifically:

    1. Deficient in strength of body; feeble; infirm; sickly; debilitated; enfeebled; exhausted.

      A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man.
      --Shak.

      Weak with hunger, mad with love.
      --Dryden.

    2. Not able to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain; as, a weak timber; a weak rope.

    3. Not firmly united or adhesive; easily broken or separated into pieces; not compact; as, a weak ship.

    4. Not stiff; pliant; frail; soft; as, the weak stalk of a plant.

    5. Not able to resist external force or onset; easily subdued or overcome; as, a weak barrier; as, a weak fortress.

    6. Lacking force of utterance or sound; not sonorous; low; small; feeble; faint.

      A voice not soft, weak, piping, and womanish.
      --Ascham.

    7. Not thoroughly or abundantly impregnated with the usual or required ingredients, or with stimulating and nourishing substances; of less than the usual strength; as, weak tea, broth, or liquor; a weak decoction or solution; a weak dose of medicine.

    8. Lacking ability for an appropriate function or office; as, weak eyes; a weak stomach; a weak magistrate; a weak regiment, or army.

  2. Not possessing or manifesting intellectual, logical, moral, or political strength, vigor, etc. Specifically:

    1. Feeble of mind; wanting discernment; lacking vigor; spiritless; as, a weak king or magistrate.

      To think every thing disputable is a proof of a weak mind and captious temper.
      --Beattie.

      Origen was never weak enough to imagine that there were two Gods.
      --Waterland.

    2. Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.

      If evil thence ensue, She first his weak indulgence will accuse.
      --Milton.

    3. Not having full confidence or conviction; not decided or confirmed; vacillating; wavering.

      Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
      --Rom. xiv. 1.

    4. Not able to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable; as, weak resolutions; weak virtue.

      Guard thy heart On this weak side, where most our nature fails.
      --Addison.

    5. Wanting in power to influence or bind; as, weak ties; a weak sense of honor of duty.

    6. Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained; as, a weak argument or case. ``Convinced of his weak arguing.''
      --Milton.

      A case so weak . . . hath much persisted in.
      --Hooker.

    7. Wanting in point or vigor of expression; as, a weak sentence; a weak style.

    8. Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble. ``Weak prayers.''
      --Shak.

    9. Lacking in elements of political strength; not wielding or having authority or energy; deficient in the resources that are essential to a ruler or nation; as, a weak monarch; a weak government or state.

      I must make fair weather yet awhile, Till Henry be more weak, and I more strong.
      --Shak. (k) (Stock Exchange) Tending towards lower prices; as, a weak market.

  3. (Gram.)

    1. Pertaining to, or designating, a verb which forms its preterit (imperfect) and past participle by adding to the present the suffix -ed, -d, or the variant form -t; as in the verbs abash, abashed; abate, abated; deny, denied; feel, felt. See Strong, 19 (a) .

    2. Pertaining to, or designating, a noun in Anglo-Saxon, etc., the stem of which ends in -n. See Strong, 19 (b) .

  4. (Stock Exchange) Tending toward a lower price or lower prices; as, wheat is weak; a weak market.

  5. (Card Playing) Lacking in good cards; deficient as to number or strength; as, a hand weak in trumps.

  6. (Photog.) Lacking contrast; as, a weak negative.

    Note: Weak is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, weak-eyed, weak-handed, weak-hearted, weak-minded, weak-spirited, and the like.

    Weak conjugation (Gram.), the conjugation of weak verbs; -- called also new conjugation, or regular conjugation, and distinguished from the old conjugation, or irregular conjugation.

    Weak declension (Anglo-Saxon Gram.), the declension of weak nouns; also, one of the declensions of adjectives.

    Weak side, the side or aspect of a person's character or disposition by which he is most easily affected or influenced; weakness; infirmity.

    weak sore or weak ulcer (Med.), a sore covered with pale, flabby, sluggish granulations.

Wiktionary
weakest

a. (en-superlative of: weak) Most weak.

Usage examples of "weakest".

Where the weakest are to be convinced speech must stoop: a full consideration of the velleities and uncertainties, a little bombast to elevate the feelings without committing the judgment, some vague effusion of sentiment, an inapposite blandness, a meaningless rodomontade - these are the by-ways to be travelled by the style that is a willing slave to its audience.

At its weakest point, the fault was receiving only faint echoes of pounding force.

You cannot negotiate from a position of weakness, and in the Aventine Empire society is structured so that Readers, without property, without money, without the right to hold office, are in the weakest position of all.

Earth, what better move could they make than to strike at our weakest point, our food supply?

Those with the weakest wills forgot in a single passing, the stronger lost memories a piece at a time.

The oldest and the weakest should likely die before they reached the Meeting Ground, for food was sure to run short with scant time for hunting, even if game was to be found, and the supplies they carried with them were barely enough to see them through.

Ardent persuasion and deep feeling enkindle words, so that the weakest take on glory.

Three columns are discerned descending from their position, the first towards the division of SIR DAVID BAIRD, the weakest point in the English line, the next towards the centre, the third towards the left.

We shall thus catch the Count at his weakest, and without a refuge to fly to.

And his presence in his purely material shape, and at his weakest, might give us some new clue.

No longer does he direct mass attacks against the length of our defenses, but concentrated attacks against the weakest points.

Who was brave enough to remind Borneheld he was now in the weakest position he had ever been in?

No longer does he direct mass attacks against the length of our defences, but concentrated attacks against the weakest points.

The anguish was still there, filling the room, palpable even to the weakest Empath.

When the sun or moon are at right-angles to each other in relation to the earth their pull is weakest and we get the smaller tides which are weaker and called neaps.