Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense weighs, present participle weighing, past tense, past participle weighed
1. verb [no cont]
If someone or something weighs a particular amount, this amount is how heavy they are.
It weighs nearly 27 kilos (about 65 pounds). [VERB amount]
This little ball of gold weighs a quarter of an ounce. [VERB amount]
You always weigh less in the morning. [VERB amount]
2. verb
If you weigh something or someone, you measure how heavy they are.
The scales can be used to weigh other items such as parcels. [VERB noun]
3. verb
If you weigh the facts about a situation, you consider them very carefully before you make a decision, especially by comparing the various facts involved.
She weighed her options. [VERB noun]
He is weighing the possibility of filing criminal charges against the doctor. [VERB noun]
She spoke very slowly, weighing what she would say. [VERB wh]
Synonyms: consider, study, examine, contemplate More Synonyms of weigh
Weigh up means the same as weigh.
[mainly British]
The company will be able to weigh up the environmental pros and cons of each site. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
You have to weigh up whether a human life is more important than an animal's life. [VERBPARTICLE wh]
[Also VERB noun PARTICLE]
Synonyms: compare, balance, contrast, juxtapose More Synonyms of weigh
4. verb
If you weigh your words, you think very carefully before you say something.
He said the words very slowly, as if weighing each one of them. [VERB noun]
5. verb
If a problem weighson you, it makes you worried or unhappy.
The separation weighed on both of them. [Von/upon n]
She knows how your brother's disappearance weighs upon you. [VERBon/upon noun]
6. verb
Something that weighs heavily in a situation has a strong influence or important effect on it.
Current economic hardships weigh heavily in young women's decisions to find salariedwork. [V adv prep]
Human life weighed more with him than purity of policy. [V adv prep]
There are many factors weighing against the meeting happening. [Vagainst n/-ing]
Phrasal verbs:
See weigh down
See weigh in
See weigh out
See weigh up
More Synonyms of weigh
weigh in British English1
(weɪ)
verb
1. (transitive)
to measure the weight of
2. (intransitive)
to have weight or be heavy
she weighs more than her sister
3. (transitive; often foll byout)
to apportion according to weight
4. (transitive)
to consider carefully
to weigh the facts of a case
5. (intransitive)
to be influential
his words weighed little with the jury
6. (intransitive; often foll byon)
to be oppressive or burdensome (to)
7. obsolete
to regard or esteem
8. weigh anchor
Derived forms
weighable (ˈweighable)
adjective
weigher (ˈweigher)
noun
Word origin
Old English wegan; related to Old Frisian wega, Old Norse vega, Gothic gawigan, German wiegen
weigh in British English2
(weɪ)
noun
under weigh
Word origin
C18: variation due to the influence of phrases such as to weigh anchor
weigh in American English1
(weɪ)
verb transitive
1.
to determine the weight of by means of a scale or balance
2.
to have (a specified) weight [it weighs ten pounds]
orig. construed as a vi. and still so construed when used with an adverb
3.
weight (sense 13)
4.
to lift or balance (an object) in the hand or hands, in order to estimate its heaviness or weight
5.
to measure out, dole out, or apportion, by or as by weight
often with out
6.
a.
to consider and choose carefully
to weigh one's words
b.
to balance or ponder in the mind; consider in order to make a choice
to weigh one plan against another
7. see; Nautical
weigh anchor under , anchor
verb intransitive
8.
to have significance, importance, or influence
his word weighed heavily with the jury
9.
to be a burden; press or bear down
with on or upon
the theft weighed on my mind
10. Nautical
weigh anchor (see phrase under anchor)
SIMILAR WORDS: conˈsider
Idioms:
weigh down
weigh in
weigh in with
Derived forms
weighable (ˈweighable)
adjective
Word origin
ME weien, to weigh, bear < OE wegan, to carry, bear, akin to Ger weigan, wägen < IE base *weĝh-, to go, draw > OE wæg, a wave, L vehere, to carry, bring
weigh in American English2
(weɪ)
noun
var. of
way (sense 20)
chiefly in under weigh, meaning under way (sense 1), see phrase at way
Word origin
modified by the notion of “weighing anchor”
Examples of 'weigh' in a sentence
weigh
New romance waits where items are weighed or measured.
The Sun (2017)
Regulatory costs weigh heavily on bank profitability.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
This teeming mass weighs about three pounds and it is known as your microbiome.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Each weighed about the same as the average pet cat.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
During the thousands of miles he still had to walk, the death weighed heavily.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
It weighs a little more than 10 pounds.
Smithsonian Mag (2017)
A priority is to make the England shirt weigh less heavily on players.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
We only considered the most massive ones, which weigh about 100 million solar masses or more.
Smithsonian Insider (2017)
The shrapnel weighs heavy in my pocket.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
We are talking about identifying and weighing one grain of sand in a desert.
Richard Fortey THE EARTH: An Intimate History (2004)
That would have weighed heavily on him in these five hours.
Christianity Today (2000)
The outlook weighed a little on the pound and government borrowing costs.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
We wait to be weighed and measured before meeting the military men training us.
The Sun (2008)
Think about weighing food before cooking it.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
History will soon weigh heavily in our pockets.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
That much power in a car that weighs little more than a slipper?
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
We need to weigh and measure the models and ask them relevant questions.
The Sun (2007)
The privacy implications are also carefully weighed up.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He also said that bank lending fragility could still weigh heavily.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It could mean airliners that weigh little more than the fuel and passengers they carry.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The government has to weigh carefully the chances and risks of securing their freedom.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Did that financial pressure to succeed weigh heavily on you?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Her key pointers are to weigh and measure your food and always use fresh ingredients.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Not weighing the ingredients carefully when making cakes.
The Sun (2013)
These observations must now be considered and weighed in the balance against the undoubted harmful effects of screening.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Much has been made of the fear factor and how the shirt weighs heavy on our star players.
The Sun (2010)
But the more time you spend with it the more it begins to weigh heavy on your mind.
The Sun (2010)
The stone church weighs about 750 tonnes.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In other languages
weigh
British English: weigh /weɪ/ VERB
If someone or something weighs a particular amount, that is how heavy they are.
He weighs 19 stone.
American English: weigh
Arabic: يَزِنُ
Brazilian Portuguese: pesar
Chinese: 称重量
Croatian: težiti
Czech: vážit
Danish: veje
Dutch: wegen
European Spanish: pesar
Finnish: painaa olla painoa
French: peser
German: wiegen
Greek: ζυγίζω
Italian: pesare
Japanese: 重さが･･･ある
Korean: 무게를 달다
Norwegian: veie
Polish: zważyć
European Portuguese: pesar
Romanian: a (se) cântări
Russian: взвешивать
Latin American Spanish: pesar determinar el peso
Swedish: väga
Thai: ชั่งน้ำหนัก
Turkish: çekmek ağırlık
Ukrainian: зважувати
Vietnamese: cân
All related terms of 'weigh'
weigh in
If you weigh in on a plan , decision , or discussion, you add your advice or comments to it.
weigh out
If you weigh something out , you measure a certain weight of it in order to make sure that you have the correct amount.
weigh up
If you weigh someone up , you try and find out what they are like and form an opinion of them, especially when you are suspicious of them.
under weigh
→ a variant spelling of under way
weigh down
If something that you are wearing or carrying weighs you down , it stops you moving easily by making you heavier.
weigh anchor
to raise a vessel's anchor or (of a vessel) to have its anchor raised in preparation for departure
weigh a ton
If you say that something weighs a ton , you mean that it is extremely heavy .
weigh in with
to introduce or contribute (an idea or opinion) to a discussion , argument , etc.
weigh anchor/up anchor
When the people on a boat weigh anchor or up anchor , they pull the anchor of the boat out of the water so that they can sail away .
Chinese translation of 'weigh'
weigh
(weɪ)
vt
[parcel, baby, flour]称(稱) ... 的重量 (chēng ... de zhòngliàng)