Crossword clues for weaker
The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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Wanting physical strength. Specifically:
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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. Not able to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain; as, a weak timber; a weak rope.
Not firmly united or adhesive; easily broken or separated into pieces; not compact; as, a weak ship.
Not stiff; pliant; frail; soft; as, the weak stalk of a plant.
Not able to resist external force or onset; easily subdued or overcome; as, a weak barrier; as, a weak fortress.
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Lacking force of utterance or sound; not sonorous; low; small; feeble; faint.
A voice not soft, weak, piping, and womanish.
--Ascham. 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.
Lacking ability for an appropriate function or office; as, weak eyes; a weak stomach; a weak magistrate; a weak regiment, or army.
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Not possessing or manifesting intellectual, logical, moral, or political strength, vigor, etc. Specifically:
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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. -
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. -
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. -
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. Wanting in power to influence or bind; as, weak ties; a weak sense of honor of duty.
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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. Wanting in point or vigor of expression; as, a weak sentence; a weak style.
Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble. ``Weak prayers.''
--Shak.-
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.
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(Gram.)
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) .
Pertaining to, or designating, a noun in Anglo-Saxon, etc., the stem of which ends in -n. See Strong, 19 (b) .
(Stock Exchange) Tending toward a lower price or lower prices; as, wheat is weak; a weak market.
(Card Playing) Lacking in good cards; deficient as to number or strength; as, a hand weak in trumps.
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(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
a. 1 (en-comparative of: weak) 2 (context logic English) Said of one proposition with respect to another one: that the latter entails the former, but the former does not entail the latter.
Usage examples of "weaker".
Soul, while its phases differ, must, in all of them, remain a contemplation and what seems to be an act done under contemplation must be in reality that weakened contemplation of which we have spoken: the engendered must respect the Kind, but in weaker form, dwindled in the descent.
Now, it is in this sense that we are to understand the weaker powers to be images of the Priors.
Tales flooded into him of men drowned as they had sought to rescue others, weaker by far, but given an adamantine embrace by primordial fear.
School that erects other material forces into universal causes is met by the same reasoning: we say that while these can warm us and chill us, and destroy weaker forms of existence, they can be causes of nothing that is done in the sphere of mind or soul: all this must be traceable to quite another kind of Principle.
Intellection seems to have been given as an aid to the diviner but weaker beings, an eye to the blind.
The School that erects other material forces into universal causes is met by the same reasoning: we say that while these can warm us and chill us, and destroy weaker forms of existence, they can be causes of nothing that is done in the sphere of mind or soul: all this must be traceable to quite another kind of Principle.
And despite your many eloquent arguments to the contrary, you are weaker, Claire.
They found nothing, though the extremity of their methods killed some of the weaker members of the crews and drove others insane.
Already some of the weaker systems were shutting down, unable to function in the unnatural field emanating from the orbiting starcruiser.
The woman was indeed weaker, whatever progress her wound had made had stopped and the stench of sickness hung in the dank little room.
He never suspected, I think, that I regretted my deed, for once a perfect submission is undermined and questioned, then all authority dissolves, and the weaker are the greatest losers.
When the magic on Abarrach grew weaker, the dolls began to keep less-than-perfect time.
He felt weaker and weaker by the second, as though his blood were leaving him.
Merlain not at all, now, though a moment before it had been weaker and she had been far more interested.
XV The weaker maids and some old men, Requiring rafters for the pen On rainy nights, were those who fell.