The Collaborative International Dictionary
Weigh \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.]
To bear up; to raise; to lift into the air; to swing up; as, to weigh anchor. ``Weigh the vessel up.''
--Cowper.-
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. To be equivalent to in weight; to counterbalance; to have the heaviness of. ``A body weighing divers ounces.''
--Boyle.-
To pay, allot, take, or give by weight.
They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
--Zech. xi. 12. -
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. -
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.
To overbalance.
To oppress with weight; to overburden; to depress. ``To weigh thy spirits down.''
--Milton.
Weigh \Weigh\, v. i.
To have weight; to be heavy. ``They only weigh the heavier.''
--Cowper.-
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. -
To bear heavily; to press hard.
Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart.
--Shak. -
To judge; to estimate. [R.]
Could not weigh of worthiness aright.
--Spenser.To weigh down, to sink by its own weight.
Usage examples of "to weigh down".
The stranger walked heavily and with a measured stride, while the English knight advanced as briskly as though there was no iron shell to weigh down the freedom of his limbs.
I had started with my arms around his knees and I stayed that way, of necessity, as long as I could, while Star tried to weigh down one of his arms and Rufo the other.
Her armor dragged at her shoulders, and the plumes of her helm seemed to weigh down her neck, yet she lowered herself until her knees and forehead touched soil, and the feathers of a Hadama Warchief became sullied with dust.
Her armor dragged at her shoulders, and theplumes of her helm seemed to weigh down her neck, yetshe lowered herself until her knees and forehead touchedsoil, and the feathers of a Hadama Warchief became sulliedwith dust.
A heavy mass seemed to weigh down upon his spirits, as the guards hauled him down, down through the keep and into the dark of the dungeon.
His robes seemed to weigh down his shoulders like slabs of stone as he finally stood and collected his notes and his gear.
Even though all the doors to the smithy are open, the air is so still that it seems to weigh down everything.