From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Weight \Weight\, noun [OE. weght, wight, AS. gewiht; akin to D. gewigt, G. gewicht, Icel. v[ae]tt, Sw. vigt, Dan. v[ae]gt. See {Weigh}, verb (used with an object)]
1. The quality of being heavy; that property of bodies by which they tend toward the center of the earth; the effect of gravitative force, especially when expressed in certain units or standards, as pounds, grams, etc.
Note: Weight differs from gravity in being the effect of gravity, or the downward pressure of a body under the influence of gravity; hence, it constitutes a measure of the force of gravity, and being the resultant of all the forces exerted by gravity upon the different particles of the body, it is proportional to the quantity of matter in the body.
2. The quantity of heaviness; comparative tendency to the center of the earth; the quantity of matter as estimated by the balance, or expressed numerically with reference to some standard unit; as, a mass of stone having the weight of five hundred pounds.
For sorrow, like a heavy-hanging bell, Once set on ringing, with his own weight goes. --Shak.
3. Hence, pressure; burden; as, the weight of care or business. ''The weight of this said time.'' --Shak.
For the public all this weight he bears. --Milton.
[He] who singly bore the world's sad weight. --Keble.
4. Importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness; as, a consideration of vast weight.
In such a point of weight, so near mine honor. --Shak.
5. A scale, or graduated standard, of heaviness; a mode of estimating weight; as, avoirdupois weight; troy weight; apothecaries' weight.
6. A ponderous mass; something heavy; as, a clock weight; a paper weight.
A man leapeth better with weights in his hands. --Bacon.
7. A definite mass of iron, lead, brass, or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies; as, an ounce weight.
8. (Mech.) The resistance against which a machine acts, as opposed to the power which moves it. [Obs.]
{Atomic weight}. (Chem.) See under {Atomic}, and cf. {Element}.
{Dead weight}, {Feather weight}, {Heavy weight}, {Light weight}, etc. See under {Dead}, {Feather}, etc.
{Weight of observation} (Astron. & Physics), a number expressing the most probable relative value of each observation in determining the result of a series of observations of the same kind.
Syn: Ponderousness; gravity; heaviness; pressure; burden; load; importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Weight \Weight\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Weighted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Weighting}.]
1. To load with a weight or weights; to load down; to make heavy; to attach weights to; as, to weight a horse or a jockey at a race; to weight a whip handle.
The arrows of satire, . . . weighted with sense. --Coleridge.
2. (Astron. & Physics) To assign a weight to; to express by a number the probable accuracy of, as an observation. See {Weight of observations}, under {Weight}.
3. (Dyeing) To load (fabrics) as with barite, to increase the weight, etc. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
4. (Math.) to assign a numerical value expressing relative importance to (a measurement), to be multiplied by the value of the measurement in determining averages or other aggregate quantities; as, they weighted part one of the test twice as heavily as part 2. [PJC]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: the vertical force exerted by a mass as a result of gravity
2: sports equipment used in calisthenic exercises and weightlifting; a weight that is not attached to anything and is raised and lowered by use of the hands and arms [syn: {free weight}, {exercising weight}]
3: the relative importance granted to something; "his opinion carries great weight"
5: an oppressive feeling of heavy force; "bowed down by the weight of responsibility"
6: a system of units used to express the weight of something [syn: {system of weights}]
7: a unit used to measure weight; "he placed two weights in the scale pan" [syn: {weight unit}]
8: (statistics) a coefficient assigned to elements of a frequency distribution in order to represent their relative importance [syn: {weighting}]
verb
1: weight down with a load [syn: {burden}, {burthen}, {weight down}] [ant: {unburden}]
2: present with a bias; "He biased his presentation so as to please the share holders" [syn: {slant}, {angle}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
341 Moby Thesaurus words for "weight": Indian club, accent, affliction, amperage, armipotence, ascendancy, authoritativeness, authority, balance, ballast, barbell, be heavy, beef, bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, black power, bob, brim, brute force, buckram, burden, burden of care, burden with, burthen, cankerworm of care, carat, care, cargo, carry weight, centigram, ceremonial, ceremoniousness, ceremony, charge, charisma, charm, chock, clout, cogence, cogency, compulsion, concern, concernment, congest, consequence, consequentiality, consideration, contaminate, control, corrupt, counterbalance, cram, credit, cross, crowd, crown of thorns, cumber, cumbrance, curse, deadweight, debase, decagram, decigram, demand, difficulty, dignity, dint, disadvantage, distress, doctor, dominance, domination, dram, dram avoirdupois, drive, dumbbell, duress, duty, dyne, effect, effectiveness, effectuality, efficacy, embarrassment, eminence, emphasis, enchantment, encumber, encumbrance, energy, enjoin, esteem, exact, excellence, exerciser, extrinsicality, fasten upon, favor, fill, fill to overflowing, fill up, flower power, force, force majeure, forcefulness, form, formality, formalization, foul up, freight, freight with, full blast, full force, gall, gall and wormwood, good feeling, grain, gram, gravity, greatness, grievance, hamper, handicap, have weight, heft, high order, high rank, hold, hold the scales, horse, hundredweight, impediment, impedimenta, impersonality, import, importance, impose, impose on, impose upon, imposition, incidental power, inconvenience, inflict on, inflict upon, infliction, influence, influentiality, influentialness, insinuation, interest, jam, jam-pack, justness, kilo, kilogram, lade, lay, lay on, lead, leadership, leverage, levy, lie heavy, load, long horse, lumber, magnetism, magnitude, main force, main strength, mana, mark, mass, mastery, materiality, megaton, merit, might, might and main, mightiness, milligram, millstone, mole, moment, momentousness, moxie, muscle power, note, onus, oppression, ounce, ounce avoirdupois, ounce troy, overfill, pack, pack of troubles, pad, parallel bars, paramountcy, peck of troubles, penalty, pennyweight, personality, persuasion, pith, pizzazz, place, plumb, plummet, pomp, pomposity, poop, potence, potency, potentiality, pound, pound avoirdupois, pound troy, poundal, power, power pack, power structure, power struggle, powerfulness, precedence, predominance, preeminence, preponderance, prepotency, pressure, prestige, primacy, primness, priority, productiveness, productivity, prominence, puissance, pull, punch, punching bag, purchase, push, put, put down, put on, put upon, ram in, rank, reign, repute, rigidness, rings, ritual, rituality, rowing machine, rule, saddle, saddle with, sandbag, satiate, saturate, say, scruple, sea of troubles, self-importance, seniority, set, side horse, significance, signification, sinew, sinker, slug, solemnity, solidity, sophisticate, sorrow, soundness, spoil, starchiness, stature, steam, stiffness, stiltedness, stone, strength, stress, strike a balance, strong arm, stuff, stylization, suasion, subject to, substantiality, subtle influence, suggestion, supercharge, superiority, superpower, supremacy, surfeit, sway, task, tax, thorn, tip the scales, ton, top off, trampoline, trapeze, trouble, units of weight, upper hand, validity, value, vehemence, vigor, vim, virility, virtue, virulence, vitality, wad, waters of bitterness, wattage, weigh, weigh down, weigh heavy, weigh in, weigh out, weight down, weight down with, weightiness, whip hand, white elephant, woe, worth, yoke with
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