weigh Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb have a certain weight
  2. verb show consideration for; take into account
    count; consider.
    • You must consider her age
    • The judge considered the offender's youth and was lenient
  3. verb determine the weight of
    librate.
    • The butcher weighed the chicken
  4. verb have weight; have import, carry weight
    count; matter.
    • It does not matter much
  5. verb to be oppressive or burdensome
    press.
    • weigh heavily on the mind", "Something pressed on his mind

WordNet

Weigh noun
Definitions
  1. (Naut.) A corruption of Way, used only in the phrase under weigh.
    An expedition was got under weigh from New York. Thackeray.
    The Athenians . . . hurried on board and with considerable difficulty got under weigh. Jowett (Thucyd.).
Weigh transitive verb
Etymology
OE. weien, weyen, weghen, AS. wegan to bear, move; akin to D. wegen to weigh, G. wägen, wiegen, to weigh, bewegen to move, OHG. wegan, Icel. vega to move, carry, lift, weigh, Sw. väga to weigh, Dan. veie, Goth. gawigan to shake, L. vehere to carry, Skr. vah. . See Way, and cf. Wey.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Weighed ; present participle & verbal noun Weighing
Definitions
  1. To bear up; to raise; to lift into the air; to swing up; as, to weigh anchor. "Weigh the vessel up." Cowper.
  2. 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.
  3. To be equivalent to in weight; to counterbalance; to have the heaviness of. "A body weighing divers ounces." Boyle.
  4. To pay, allot, take, or give by weight.
    They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. Zech. xi. 12.
  5. 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.
  6. To consider as worthy of notice; to regard. Obs. or Archaic "I weigh not you." Shak.
    All that she so dear did weigh. Spenser.
    Milton.
Weigh intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To have weight; to be heavy. "They only weigh the heavier." Cowper.
  2. 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.
  3. To bear heavily; to press hard.
    Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart. Shak.
  4. To judge; to estimate. R.
    Could not weigh of worthiness aright. Spenser.
Weigh noun
Etymology
See Wey.
Definitions
  1. A certain quantity estimated by weight; an English measure of weight. See Wey.

Webster 1913