1
2
a
: a quantity or thing weighing a fixed and usually specified amount
b
: a heavy object (such as a metal ball) thrown, put, or lifted as an athletic exercise or contest
3
a
: a unit of weight or mass see Metric System Table
b
: a piece of material (such as metal) of known specified weight for use in weighing articles
c
: a system of related units of weight
4
a
: something heavy : load
b
: a heavy object to hold or press something down or to counterbalance
5
b
: the quality or state of being ponderous
c
6
a
: relative heaviness : mass
b
: the force with which a body is attracted toward the earth or a celestial body by gravitation and which is equal to the product of the mass and the local gravitational acceleration
7
a
: the relative importance or authority accorded something
the weight of her opinions
b
: measurable influence especially on others
throwing his weight behind the proposal
8
: overpowering force
9
: the quality (such as lightness) that makes a fabric or garment suitable for a particular use or season
—often used in combination
summer-weight
10
: a numerical coefficient assigned to an item to express its relative importance in a frequency distribution
11
: the degree of thickness of the strokes of a type character
weighted; weighting; weights
1
: to oppress with a burden
weighted down with cares
2
a
: to load or make heavy with or as if with a weight
b
: to increase in heaviness by adding an ingredient
3
a
b
: to feel the weight of : heft
4
: to assign a statistical weight to
5
: to cause to incline in a particular direction by manipulation
the tax structure … which was weighted so heavily in favor of the upper classes—
A. S. Link
A. S. Link6
: to shift the burden of weight upon
weight the inside ski
Synonyms
Examples of weight in a Sentence
Noun
Please indicate your height and weight on the form.
The boat sank under the weight of the cargo.
Those columns have to be strong enough to support the weight of the roof.
He stays in good shape by lifting weights.
I use pie weights to keep the pie crust from bubbling when I bake it.
Verb
I weighted the fishing line with a lead sinker.
weighted the car with a ton of furniture and then headed off for college
Recent Examples on the WebCharna Flam, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
Lockwood tells me that the way her previous agency handled her weight gain also felt passive-aggressive.
—Essence, 19 Apr. 2024
The press ruthlessly covered Burke's weight gain at the time, leading to her disillusionment with Hollywood.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 19 Apr. 2024
Travel cribs will have different weight and height limits.
—Chaunie Brusie, Rn, Parents, 19 Apr. 2024
Will the rally in tech and weight loss drug stocks continue in 2024?
—Quartz, 18 Apr. 2024
After the study, most participants gorged themselves long after their weight returned to normal.
—Andrew Chapman, Longreads, 18 Apr. 2024
Those who took the drug in this part of the study also lost weight.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
Definitively diagnosing someone with pancreatic cancer can involve a series of scans, blood tests and biopsies, which are typically performed only once someone has symptoms, which may include jaundice or yellowing of the eyes and skin, weight loss, belly or back pain, or tiredness and weakness.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
Journal Sentinel, 8 Apr. 2024
Cowboy Carter addresses her detractors and most of the album is weighted by this bid to disprove them.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Apr. 2024
The analysis for each year includes all districts with available data for that year, weighted by district size.
—Sarah Mervosh, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
The difference is that our relationship feels more equally weighted.
—Annie Lord, Vogue, 16 Mar. 2024
As people returned to what was deemed ‘the new normal’, there was a noticeable shift in the weighting people were willing to allocate to the work domain.
—Melissa A. Wheeler, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
Scoop up this stylish chunky knitted weighted blanket for something that looks good draped over the couch when not in use.
—Katiee McKinstry, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2024
This and other groups were weighted back to their share of the adult population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
—Scott Clement, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2024
These links are intended to break when whales swim into them, so that the whales do not become entangled and weighted down by ropes and traps.
—Joshua Reed, The Conversation, 13 Mar. 2024
Noun
Throughout the video, DiDonato narrates her experience of losing weight postpartum after giving birth to her second child.
—Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
Lockwood tells me that the way her previous agency handled her weight gain also felt passive-aggressive.
—Essence, 19 Apr. 2024
The press ruthlessly covered Burke's weight gain at the time, leading to her disillusionment with Hollywood.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 19 Apr. 2024
Travel cribs will have different weight and height limits.
—Chaunie Brusie, Rn, Parents, 19 Apr. 2024
Will the rally in tech and weight loss drug stocks continue in 2024?
—Quartz, 18 Apr. 2024
After the study, most participants gorged themselves long after their weight returned to normal.
—Andrew Chapman, Longreads, 18 Apr. 2024
Those who took the drug in this part of the study also lost weight.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
Definitively diagnosing someone with pancreatic cancer can involve a series of scans, blood tests and biopsies, which are typically performed only once someone has symptoms, which may include jaundice or yellowing of the eyes and skin, weight loss, belly or back pain, or tiredness and weakness.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
Verb
Borrowers with a mix of undergraduate and graduate debt have payments weighted somewhere between the two.
—Journal Sentinel, 8 Apr. 2024
Cowboy Carter addresses her detractors and most of the album is weighted by this bid to disprove them.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Apr. 2024
The analysis for each year includes all districts with available data for that year, weighted by district size.
—Sarah Mervosh, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
The difference is that our relationship feels more equally weighted.
—Annie Lord, Vogue, 16 Mar. 2024
As people returned to what was deemed ‘the new normal’, there was a noticeable shift in the weighting people were willing to allocate to the work domain.
—Melissa A. Wheeler, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
Scoop up this stylish chunky knitted weighted blanket for something that looks good draped over the couch when not in use.
—Katiee McKinstry, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2024
This and other groups were weighted back to their share of the adult population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
—Scott Clement, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2024
These links are intended to break when whales swim into them, so that the whales do not become entangled and weighted down by ropes and traps.
—Joshua Reed, The Conversation, 13 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'weight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near weight
Cite this Entry
“Weight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/weight. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
weight
1 of 2 noun1
a
: the amount that something weighs
b
: the standard amount that something should weigh
fined for selling meat under weight
2
a
: a quantity or portion weighing usually a certain amount
equal weights of flour and butter
b
: a heavy object (as a metal ball) used in athletic exercises and contests
3
a
: a unit (as a pound or kilogram) of weight or mass see measure see metric system
b
: an object (as a piece of metal) of known weight for balancing a scale in weighing other objects
4
a
: something heavy : load
b
: a heavy object used to hold, press down, or balance something else
clock weights
5
: a mental or emotional burden
had a weight on my conscience
6
: the force with which a body is attracted toward the earth or a heavenly body by gravitation
7
a
: the importance given to something
opinions that carry weight
b
: the greater or more impressive part
the weight of the evidence is for a verdict of guilty
weight
2 of 2 verb1
: to load or make heavy with a weight
2
: to trouble with a burden
weighted down with cares
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