Forms: α. 1 ʓewiht, ʓewyht, 2 iwicht; 1–3 wiht, 3–5 wyht, wiȝt(e, 4–5 wyȝt(e, wyght(e, (4 wygthe), 4–6 whyght(e, 4–5 wighte, 4–7 wight (5 Sc. vycht); 4 wythe, 5 wyt(e, whyt(e, 4–5 witte, wytte. β. 3 Orm. wehht, 3–6 weght, 4–5 weghte, weȝt(e, 4– Sc. wecht (6 vecht); 3–4 weiht, 4–5 weyht(e, weiȝt(e, weyȝt(e, 4–6 weyght(e, 4–7 weighte (5 weigt-e, wheight-e; 5 Sc. weicht, 6 Sc. veicht, veycht, veyght, weycht), 4– weight; 5 waȝt-, 6–7 waight(e, wayght(e, (6 Sc. waicht, waycht, 7 wayht); 4–5 weit(e, (pl. wettes), 5 weyte, wheyt(e, weyth(e, wheith, whet(t)e, 6 waithe, 6 pl. waytts, 6–7 wait(e, 7 wayte. [OE. wiht (? fem.), = OFris. wicht (WFris. wicht, NFris. wegt, wacht), MDu. and Du. wicht, MLG. and LG. wicht, wigt (whence MDa. vekt, Da. vægt, Norw. vegt; MSw. vekt, vikt, Sw. vigt), G. (irreg.) wucht, ON. vétt, vǽtt fem.:—OTeut. type *weχti-z, f. root *weʓ-: see WEIGH v.1 The more usual form in OE. was ʓewiht(e str. neut. = MDu. ghewichte (Du. gewicht), MLG. gewichte, gewechte, MHG. gewichte (G. gewicht):—OTeut. type *gaweχtjo-m. As the prefix i-, y- (:—OE. ʓe-) in sbs. fell away in early ME., the two formations coalesced in the 12th c. The normal descendant in mod.English of the OE. wiht would be *wight; the vowel of the β forms may be due partly to the influence of the prehistoric ON. *weht, and partly to association with weigh vb.]
I. Measurement of quantity by means of weighing; quantity (in the abstract) as determined in this way.
1. By weight: as determined by weighing. † Without weight: taken unweighed.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., I. 146. Ʒenim þas wyrte & swinen smeru … æʓþres ʓelice micel be wihte. [Cf. Ibid., I. 148. Ʒenim … ealra þyssa wyrta ʓelice fela be ʓewihte.]
a. 1123. O. E. Chron., an. 1086 (Laud MS.). Maniʓ marc goldes & ma hundred punda seolfres. Ðet he nam be wihte … of his landleode.
c. 1325. Chron. Eng., 503 (Ritson). He made thre condlen by wyht.
1340. Ayenb., 44. Huanne þo þet zelleþ be wyȝte purchaceþ and makeþ zuo moche þet [etc.].
c. 1440. Capgrave, Life St. Kath., 1238. Alle soules … That shal to blisse, I peyse hem alle be wyte Whether in goodnesse thei ben heuy or lyghte.
c. 1460. Contin. Brut, 492. It was ordeyned þat þe gold in Englissh coygne shuld be weyed, & none receyved but by weght.
1539. Bible (Great), 2 Kings xxv. 16. The brasse of all these vesselles was without wayght.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., II. i. 32. To distribute the bysket … by weight.
1601. F. Tate, Househ. Ord. Edw. II., § 15 (1876), 13. The serjant chaundeler shal receve the wax & lightes bi waight from the clarke of the spicery.
c. 1612. Turners Dish, in Rollins, Pepysian Garl. (1922), 36. You that sel your wares by waight, and live vpon the trade.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage, II. iii. 98. Besides iewels, and brasse, and iron, without weight, with Cedars and stones without number.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 561. With Axes first they cleave the Wine, and thence By Weight, the solid Portions they dispence.
1730. Conduitt, Observ. Coins (1774), 10. Foreigners who take our guineas in quantities only by weight, may melt down the heavy ones.
1811. A. T. Thomson, Lond. Disp. (1818), 440. The proportions of acid and water were equal by weight.
1815. W. H. Ireland, Scribbleomania, 15. Of paper a pile … Which by weight had been purchas’d.
2. Associated with measure and number, esp. in figurative expressions referring to due proportion.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 439. Met of corn, and wiʓte of fe, And merke of felde, first fond he.
13[?]. Cursor M., 23564 (Edin.). Of his werkes es noht vnhale, bot al in mette and weiht and tale.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 7690. For he made alle thyng thurgh myght and sleght In certain noumbre and mesure and weght.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 321. It is good & resonable men to haue chirchis in mesure, & in numbre, & in weyhte, aftir þe hooly trinitee.
c. 1400. 26 Pol. Poems, xiv. 68. Let comon lawe his cours hold, Euene mesure, mett, and wyȝt.
c. 1480. Henryson, Swallow, 1666. All creature he maid for thi behufe … In number, wecht, and dew proportioun.
1551. Crowley, Pleas. & Payne, 562. You that by disceyte haue wonne, Were it in weyght or in measure.
1588. A. King, in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.), 214. To vse falset in buying, selling or changing, in pryce, in weicht or mesure.
3. Ponderability, as a general property of material substances; relative heaviness.
Also transf. in Phrenology (see quot. 1860).
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., Prol. 231 (Fairf. MS.). His gilte here was corowned with a sonne I-stede of golde for heuynesse and wyght.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIX. cxxx. (1495), 938. Two thynges makyth weyghte: lightnesse and heuynesse.
14[?]. Lydg., Beware of Doubleness, 92. In balaunce whan they be peised, For lakke of weght they be bore down.
c. 1450. Merlin, iii. 57. They … seide it was a thynge impossible to charge, they [the stones] were of soche gretnesse and wight.
1600. Shaks., All’s Well, II. iii. 126. Our bloods Of colour, waight, and heat, pour’d all together, Would quite confound distinction.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 315/1. The Axe for the cutting of the great and large Bones … hath weight and substance in it.
1728. Pope, Dunc., I. 183. As clocks to weight their nimble motion owe, The wheels above urg’d by the load below.
1765. Museum Rust., IV. 74. The wool had then very likely gained weight considerably.
a. 1790. Henry, Hist. Gt. Brit. (1793), VI. 634. If the number of coins … did not actually make a pound in weight.
1858. Lardner, Hand-bk. Nat. Phil., 154. Air possesses, in common with all material substances, the qualities of impenetrability, inertia, and weight.
1860. Mayne, Expos. Lex., Weight or Resistance,… a faculty common to man and the lower animals … taking cognizance of weight and other kinds of mechanical force.
Phr. 1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, i. He had slowly gravitated on into his present position, on the old Ring principle—‘weight must tell.’
b. In fig. or transf. uses.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., II. pr. iii. (1886), 25. Yif any frute of mortal thinges may han any weyhte or pris of welefulnesse.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 41 b. In the weyght of this noble treasure, standeth all the effecte of the pilgrymage of perfeccyon.
1587. A. Day, Daphnis & Chloe (1890), title-p. Excellently describing the weight of affection, the simplicitie of loue.
1658. Flecknoe, Enigm. Char., 12. He hovers in his choice, like an empty Ballance with no waight of Judgement to incline him to either scale.
1787. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Ode upon Ode, Wks. 1812, I. 443. And really I would rather be knock’d down By weight of argument than weight of fist.
1891. Cayley, Math. Papers (1897), XIII. 110. It is for this purpose convenient to introduce the notion of ‘weight’; say a triangle has the weight 1, then a quadrangle,… divisible into two triangles, has the weight 2.
c. Impetus (of a heavy falling body; also of a blow).
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XVII. 693. The gynour … swappit out the stane That evin toward the lift is gane,… And with gret wecht syne duschit doune.
c. 1440. Generydes, 2163. Ther strokes shuld come with grete wight.
d. In scientific use: (see quots.).
a. 1721. Keill, Maupertius’ Diss. (1734), 3. A secret Force, we call Weight or Gravity, attracts, urges or impels Bodies towards the Center of the Earth.
1806. O. Gregory, Treat. Mechanics, I. 46. It will not be difficult to attach a just and scientific meaning to that which is commonly called weight: it is the effort necessary to prevent a body from falling.
1827. N. Arnott, Physics, I. 14. Weight, therefore, is merely general attraction acting everywhere.
e. Prosody. (See quot.)
1898. Sweet, A.-S. Rdr., Introd. (ed. 7), p. lxxxvi. Stress and quantity together constitute weight. Ibid., p. xcii. This double alliteration is not essential to the metre like that caused by extra weight.
4. In various phrases (see also sense 1):
a. In (or † of) weight, added to adjs. such as heavy, light, great, etc.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 4662. Semely dyght … With eglis faire and riche In syght, Off riche gold and mechel of wyght.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Alfonce, vi. Thow wenest that within my bely shold be a precious stone more of weyght than I am.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, d iij. That noon be heuyer then an other bot like of weyght.
a. 1500. in Arnolde, Chron. (1811), 128. The said bales … were myche heuyar in weight than they shulde naturally haue ben.
1910. W. Parker, in Encycl. Brit., XI. 352/1. They [opossum skins] are … not only very light in weight and warm, but handsome.
fig. 1570. B. Googe, Popish Kingd., 13 b. The Dorekeeper instructed than, what things he ought to do Whenas this office great of waight he there doth come vnto.
† b. Of weight (as adj. phrase): Heavy. Obs.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, II. 1385 (Campsall MS.). For swyfter cours cometh þyng þat is of wighte Whan it descendeth þan don þynges lyghte. Ibid. (c. 1384), H. Fame, 739. Any thinge that hevy be As stoon or lede or thynge of wight.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 5473. Lamprays of weȝt Twa hundreth pond ay a pece.
1599. Alex. Hume, Poems (S.T.S.), Hymn, vii. 113. Crosbowes of waight, and Gnosik gainyeis kein.
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, 47. Materials of weight, as Sauder, wherewith an unconscionable Plummer can ingrosse his Bill.
† c. Of weight: of full or standard weight. Sc.
1500. Halyburton, Ledger (1867), 253. [Certain coins] all of vycht.
1524. in Acts Parlt. Scot. (1875), XII. 41/1. Þe gold sall have comone coursse … þe Hary noble of Weiht for xlb … be scottis demy of wecht xviijb.
1597. Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot., 228/2. Rois nobilis of gold and wecht.
5. The amount that an article of given price or value ought to weigh. Chiefly ellipt. in predicative use = 4 c. Short weight: see SHORT a. 15.
a. 1400. Eng. Gilds, 354. Ȝif þe ferþingloff is in defawte of wyȝte ouer twelf pans, þe bakere is in þe amercy.
1435. in Kingsford, Chron. Lond., 73. That no man … shulde putte fforth ne profre no golde … but yff yt helde the weyht.
1530. Palsgr., 770/1. I pray you, go way this angell, and tell me and he be weygt [F. de poyx].
a. 1585. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1914), XXIX. 521. Spanishe gold of best and those [pieces] that be weight.
1623. Fletcher & Rowley, Maid in Mill, IV. iii. We must be weight in love, no grain too light.
1640. Quarles, Enchirid., II. xlv. If thou finde him weight, make him thine owne.
1691. Locke, Consid. Lower. Interest (1692), 149. Your heavy Money, (i.e., that which is weight according to its Denomination, by the Standard of the Mint).
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton, vii. (1840), 119. It was near two ounces more than weight in a pound.
1802. Mar. Edgeworth, Pop. Tales, Murad, i. I … protested … that I had never furnished the people … with bread that was not weight.
c. 1850. Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.), 212. The miller … ordered her to bring the scales, to see if the money he was going to pay was weight.
† 8. The action of weighing. Obs. rare.
a. 1483. Liber Niger, in Househ. Ord. (1790), 63. One of these clerkes dayly, to be at the weyghtes of wax in the chaundrey.
7. Ponderable matter; that which weighs.
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, 53. What resistance dust can be, when waight is laid upon it.
1755. Chamberlayne, Pres. St. Gt. Brit., I. III. viii. 196. They are suffered to be overcharged with Weight laid upon them, that they expire presently.
1859. Tennyson, Marr. Geraint, 526. Slowly falling as a scale that falls, When weight is added only grain by grain.
II. An amount determined or determinable by weighing; a definite quantity weighed or capable of being weighed.
8. A portion or quantity weighing a definite amount. Often preceded by an expression indicating the amount: in OE. in the genitive, as anes pundes, þreora punda wiht; now in attributive or appositional form, as one pound, three pounds weight. Often abbreviated wt.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., I. 374. Ʒenim … of ælcere þisne wyrte xx peneʓa wiht.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21429. If he his mone [= money] moght not gett,… þat ilk weght þat þar was less, He suld yeild of his aun flexs.
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1106. The barres were of gold ful fyne … Full heuy gret and no thyng lyght, In eueriche was a besaunt wight.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, V. 397. Þe monkes … took wiþ hem … a weyȝte of brede for the iorney [L. pondus panis diurni].
c. 1430. Chev. Assigne, 155. She sente aftur a golde-smyȝte to forge here a cowpe; And … delyuered hym his weyȝtes.
1494. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., I. 314. For iij pund wecht foure vnce … of gold.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., IV. i. 41. You’l aske me why I rather choose to haue A weight of carrion flesh, then to receiue Three thousand Ducats?
1655. Marq. Worcester, Cent. Inv., § 99. How to make one pound weight to raise an hundred as high as one pound falleth.
1669. Earl Sandwich, trans. Barba’s Art of Metals, I. (1674), 12. Lemnian-Earth is esteemed as rich as Gold, and sold so weight for weight.
1728. E. S[mith], Compleat Housew. (ed. 2), 164. Mix the Pulp and Meat together, and take the weight and half of Sugar.
1794. Vancouver, Agric. Cambridge, 55. The grass … produced from the water-meadows, is chiefly inferior to that (weight for weight) which grows … upon unwatered ground.
1827. Steuart, Planter’s G. (1828), 150. Close-planting, pruning, and other means are employed to obtain what is considered the greatest possible ‘weight of wood.’
1845. G. Dodd, Brit. Manuf., v. 26. About 112 lbs. weight of biscuits are put into the oven at once.
1854. Ronalds & Richardson, Chem. Techn. (ed. 2), I. 236. The quantities of heat contained in equal weights of water and air at the same temperature.
fig. 1382. Wyclif, 2 Cor. iv. 17. [The] liȝt thing of oure tribulacioun worchith … the euerelasting weiȝte of glorie in vs.
1611. Shaks., Cymb., III. v. 88. Is she with Posthumus? From whose so many waights of basenesse, cannot A dram of worth be drawne.
1706. Prior, Ode to Queen, x. Impartial Justice holds Her equal Scales; ’Till stronger Virtue does the Weight incline.
1852. Tennyson, Ode Death Wellington, 240. One, upon whose hand and heart and brain Once the weight and fate of Europe hung.
transf. 1855. Hopkins, Organ, II. 493. [In the New Organ] there are several reservoirs producing different weights of wind.
b. ellipt. A pennyweight of gold.
1890. Melbourne Argus, 9 Aug., 4/6. Tried a crushing, and didn’t get four weights to the ton.
9. Its, his, etc., weight in or of gold, silver, etc.: a quantity of gold, silver, etc., of the same weight. Chiefly in hyperbolical statements of value.
c. 1205. Lay., 30835. For nauer neoðer nalde for his æfne wiht of golde þat þe king hit wuste þat [etc.].
a. 1300. Floriz & Bl., 650 (Cambr. MS.). Ȝe habbeþ iherd of blauncheflur, Hu ihc hire boȝte … For seuesiþe of gold hire wiȝt.
13[?]. Sir Beues, 1725. An hors he hadde of gret pris…; For him a ȝaf seluer wiȝt, Er he þat hors haue miȝt.
14[?]. Guy Warw., 8122. He wold have yove for the fyndyng [of the sword] The weyght of gold and of other thyng.
a. 1500. Medwall, Nature (Brandl), II. 324. Thou art worth the weyght of gold.
16[?]. Eger & Grine, 1154, in Percy Fol. MS., I. 390. He is worth to her his waight in gold.
1614. J. Saris, Voy. Japan, etc. (Hakl. Soc.), 204. Muske, worth the wayht in Siluer.
1634. ? S. Rowley, Noble Soldier, II. i. D 2. I would not drinke that infernall draught … for the weight of the world in Diamonds.
1672. Petty, Pol. Anat. Irel. (1691), 68. Gold has been worth but twelve times its own weight in Silver.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 783. Add to the solution twelve times its weight of distilled water.
1854. Patmore, Angel in Ho., Betrothal, 130. A Tasso worth its weight in gold.
1856. Miss Yonge, Daisy Chain, II. xxvi. The dear old nurse … whom George Rivers would have paid with her weight in gold, for taking care of his new daughter.
10. The amount that something weighs; the quantity of a portion of matter as measured by the amount of its downward force due to gravitation; the amount of resistance offered by a body to forces tending to raise it. Live weight: see LIVE a. 7.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 1118. Sakkis ful of gold of large weyghte.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, III. 205. Þanne he took heede þat þe hameres were of dyuers weiȝtes. Ibid. (1398), Barth. De P. R., XVI. v. (Bodl. MS.). Þouȝe it [sc. gold] be in fire it wasteþ nouȝt, bi smokinge and vapoures noþer leseþ his weiȝt [L. nec etiam in pondere minoratur].
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xviii. 84. Marchands sophisticatez peper, when it is alde … and so by cause of þe weight it semes fresch and new.
c. 1475. Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 286. The pore pepyll … be oppressyd … In yevyng theym to myche weythe into the spynnyng.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. iv. 276. The weight of an hayre will turne the Scales between their Haber-de-pois.
1599. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Rev., II. ii. To a friend in want, hee will not depart with the waight of a soldred groat.
1625. N. Carpenter, Geog. Del., I. iv. (1635), 73. The parts are indowed with an equall waight.
1698. Floyer, Asthma (1717), 196. The Morning Weight [of the Asthmatic] was 178 Pound.
1715. trans. Gregory’s Astron. (1726), I. 491. The Weights of homogeneous Bodies plac’d near one another.
1765. Museum Rust., IV. 74. The weight of this wool encreased from … August 30, 1756, to Feb. 19, 1757, as 100 to 1031/4.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., ii. (1842), 25. Small weights cannot be appreciated in instruments intended for great quantities, because of the strength.
1855. Brewster, Newton, I. xii. 323. The weight of all bodies is diminished by the centrifugal force, so that the weight of any body is greater at the poles than it is at the equator.
1876. Tait, Rec. Adv. Phys. Sci., xiv. (1885), 357. The weight of a pound of matter varies from place to place on the earth’s surface.
fig. 1390. Gower, Conf., II. 276. Mi weyhte of love and mi mesure Hath be mor large … Than evere I tok of love ayein.
1571. Campion, Hist. Irel., xiv. (1633), 46. When he was forced to silence with the waight of truth.
1586. A. Day, Engl. Secretorie, II. (1595), 128. If men wold but throughly enter into the weight of their estates, and truly consider with themselues what of duty appertaineth to very reputation.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., I. ii. 9. Heerein I see thou lou’st mee not with the full waight that I loue thee.
transf. 1637. Rutherford, Lett. (1671), 128. I know not the weight of the pension the King will give me.
b. In phrases stating how much a thing weighs, as of two pounds weight.
1389. Eng. Gilds, 30. Also a knaue chyld … beren a candel yat day, ye wygthe of to pound.
1449[?]. Paston Lett., Suppl. (1901), 22. ij. tapers of wax of ij. lbs. wyght.
1479. Cely Papers (Camden), 19. And ij salt salers of sylver of the weyth of x unse or xj.
1553. Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 34. The fleshe therof wayed .xlvij. pound weyght.
1557. Recorde, Whetst., R j. A Cube of Brasse of 4 inches square, doth weighe 7 pounde weighte.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, III. iv. 24. ’Twill be heauier soone, by the waight of a man.
1758. Payne’s Universal Chron., 29 July–5 Aug., 141/2. A Turtle of upwards of 500 lb. wt.
c. In figurative phrases.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 37. The vastnesse of their Empire, falling with his owne weight.
1794. Gouv. Morris, in Sparks, Life & Writ. (1832), II. 395. We have seen such a system fall by its own weight.
1921. Brit. Weekly, 6 Oct., 3/3. There was a general … belief that people round us were not pulling their weight.
d. Chem. Atomic weight: the relative weight of the atom of any element.
1836–41. Brande, Chem. (ed. 5), 236. A compound of 1 atom of hydrogen and 1 atom of chlorine, their respective weights being 1 and 36.
1838. T. Thomson, Chem. Org. Bodies, 256. This would raise the atomic weight to 31·74.
e. transf. in Mechanics. (See quots.)
1810. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 4), XIII. 53/1. When two forces act against each other by the intervention of a machine, the one force is called the power, and the other the weight.
1829. Chapters Phys. Sci., 77. The Inclined Plane … is always inclined obliquely to the weight, or the resistance to be overcome.
11. A heavy mass; usually, something heavy that is lifted or carried; a burden, load. Also fig.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., II. met. v. (1886), 35. Allas what was he þat fyrst dalf vp the gobetes or the weyhtes of gold couered vndyr erthe.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xxiii. (Bodl. MS.). A philosophir was preued whi an horrible man is more heuy þanne eny burþon oþir weiȝte [ed. 1495 wytte].
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., xxxi. 117. Ther he was nye dreynte, for gret weyte of his burdon.
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 20. With the weyght therof it pulleth the corne flatte to the erth.
1538. Starkey, England, I. iii. 78. Not to lyue … as an vnprofytabul weyght and burden of the erth.
1562. Bp. Pilkington, Abdias, Pref. A a v. The greater weighte that is cast on, the soner it breakes.
1584–7. Greene, Carde of Fancie, Wks. (Grosart), IV. 75. I found it built … so slenderly, as ye least waight was able to pash it into innumerable peeces.
c. 1620. Fletcher, False One, V. iv. My free mind, Like to the Palm-tree walling fruitful Nile, Shall grow up straighter and enlarge it self ’Spight of the envious weight that loads it with.
1642. Docq. Lett. Pat. at Oxf. (1837), 323. New invencions … to raise ponderous weightes with.
1659. Dryden, Heroick Stanzas, xv. His palms, tho under Weights they did not stand, Still thriv’d.
1698. Floyer, Asthma, iv. 127. All strait Cloaths, and the weight of Blankets hinder the Extention of the Breath.
1764. [J. Burton], Pres. St. Navig. Thames, 39. There will be no Occasion to penn up such a vast Weight of Water pressing on the Weir.
1792. Jrnls. Ho. Comm., XLVII. 363/2. It is an Absurdity … to load the Extremities with more Weight of Metal than the Midships.
1814. Scott, Lord of Isles, V. xx. Strong are mine arms, and little care A weight so slight as thine to bear.
1852. Malpas, Builder’s Pocket-bk., 57. The whole weight is thrown upon the beam.
1865. Tyndall, Fragm. Sci. (1871), 14. The simplest form of work is the raising of a weight.
transf. 1746. Francis, trans. Hor., Sat., I. x. 12. Let your sense be clear, Nor with a weight of words fatigue the ear. Ibid., Art of Poetry, 260, note. The Verses … were so heavy with a Weight of Spondees.
12. spec. a. In horse-racing or riding: The amount (expressed in stones and pounds) which the jockey or rider is required or expected to weigh, or which the mount can without difficulty carry. Catch weights: see CATCH- 4.
1692. Lond. Gaz., No. 2773/4. None but Gentlemen to ride; The weight 12 Stone.
1740. Act 13 Geo. II., c. 19 § 3. Any Horse … carrying less than the Weights herein before directed to be carried.
1771. [P. Parsons], Newmarket, I. 108. Who ever heard of a rider’s throwing away part of his weight, or tearing his pocket that the shot might run out?
1858. Rules of Racing, § 38. Each jockey shall be allowed 2 lb above the weight specified for his horse to carry and no more.
1883. ‘Rapier,’ Types of Turf, 74. I remember how eagerly in a certain stable the weights were expected for last year’s Cesarewitch.
b. Without article.
1734. Cheny, List Horse-Matches, 11. The highest Horse to carry 12 st. and all under his Size to be allow’d Weight for Inches.
1782. Cowper, Gilpin, 115. He carries weight! he rides a race!
1886. Earl Suffolk, Racing, 145. Weight for age is the basis of trials with old horses.
1889. Baden-Powell, Pigsticking, 117. The chief objections to an Arab are … his frequent inability to jump and to carry weight.
1891. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Sydney-side Sax., viii. He was a dark brown horse … up to weight, and good across country.
Comb. 1863. Miss Braddon, Aur. Floyd, xiii. The bay filly which was to run in a weight-for-age race at the York Spring [meeting].
1898. Encycl. Sport, II. 196/2. Weight-for-age races are of three varieties.
c. Boxing. A match between boxers of a particular weight.
1914. Varsity, 24 Feb., 15/1. An experienced boxer … who won this weight last year at Cambridge. Ibid. Selected to do duty in the two weights.
III. In figurative senses from the above.
13. A burden (of responsibility, obligation, suffering, years, etc.).
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Eng. Wks., I. 66. Þei [the Jews] shal bere to þe ende of þe worlde the wiȝte of þe olde lawe.
c. 1450. Capgrave, Life St. Gilbert, 90. He held him-self onworþi to þe birden of swech a wyte.
1539. Bible (Great), Num. xi. 11. Seynge that thou puttest ye weyght of all this people vpon me.
a. 1586. Sidney, Ps. V. iv. With heaped weights of their own sinns oppresse These most ungratefull rebells unto thee.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., II. i. 36. But were we burdned with like waight of paine, As much, or more, we should our selues complaine.
1632. Sanderson, Serm., 303. You that groane vnder the waight of Gods displeasure.
1661. F. Howgill, in Extr. S. P. rel. Friends, II. (1911), 129. The Imprisonment of Freinds lyes as a weight vppon the Nation.
1675. Dryden, Aurengz., I. (1676), 2. The weight of seventy Winters prest him down.
1718. Prior, Power, 694. Permit me strength, my weight of woe to bear.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, II. (Globe), 540. For my Part I had a Weight taken off from my Heart.
1738. Wesley, Ps. CXLVII. vii. Ye, who bow with Age’s Weight.
1811. Byron, To Thyrza, 43. Oft have I borne the weight of ill, But never bent beneath till now!
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, vi. The child, overpowered by the weight of her sorrows and anxieties … burst into a passion of tears.
1883. S. C. Hall, Retrospect, I. 397. He was an aged man … and seemed enfeebled by the weight of years.
b. Burden (of proof), onus.
1824. J. Marshall, Constit. Opin. (1839), 312. The whole weight of proof … is thrown upon him who would introduce a distinction.
14. a. The force of an onslaught or encounter in the field; pressure exerted by numbers.
c. 1500. Melusine, xix. 106. Wel ye wote that two knyghtes may not susteyne & bere the weight ayenst wel Lxxx. or houndred thousand paynemys.
1643. R. Baker, Chron., Hen. III. (1653), 127. And so undertaking the main weight of the battell, [he] perished under it.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, IX. 1071. They bear him back; and whom by Might They cannot Conquer, they oppress with Weight.
1734. trans. Rollin’s Rom. Hist. (1827), IX. 189. No longer able to support the weight of the enemy, they thought fit to retire.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, xi. The tumult … forced asunder, by the weight and press of numbers, the Prince and Douglas.
b. To feel the weight of: to suffer from (by receiving a heavy blow or undergoing severe pressure). Freq. fig.
1553. Respublica, 284. He that ones wincheth shall fele the waite of my fiste.
1617. Moryson, Itin., II. 98. He had felt the waight of her Majesties power.
1681. Flavel, Meth. Grace, xvii. 317. His enemies felt the weight of his prayers, and the church of God reaped the benefits thereof.
1701. Atterbury, Serm. (1726), I. 268. They, who lately felt the weight of the English Arms.
1702. De Foe, New Test Ch. Eng. Honesty, Writ. 1705, II. 306. The Church, who by this time began to feel the Weight of the King’s Hand, had been Dispossess’d of Magdalen College in Oxford.
1880. Mrs. Parr, Adam & Eve, II. 21. I’ve a made that great lutterputch feel the weight o’ me hand.
† c. To give a weight to: to add force or vigor to.
1796. Mme. D’Arblay, Camilla, VI. iv. III. 202. To see her thus completely disconcerted, gave a weight to the mischievous malice of Mrs. Arlbery.
d. Mining (See quot.)
1892. Labour Commission Gloss., Weight. A weight is the gradual or sudden lowering of the roof of a mine after the coal has been worked on the long-wall system.
15. Importance, moment, claim to consideration; esp. (a) in phr. of weight, of great (little, etc.) weight.
(a) 1521. Wolsey, in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. I. I. 179. A smale conceylement … of no regarde, weight, or importance.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 79 b. In matters of weight and difficultie.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. 113. What obedience than is due to them in matters of small waight, of small importaunce.
1606. Proc. agst. Late Traitors, Garnet, etc., 103. Such new matter as shallbe worth the hearing, as being indeed of waight and moment.
1643. D. Rogers, Naaman, 50. So should we in our journeyes, travailes, attempts of weight,… beseech him that his good hand might appeare.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, VII. 345. Pond’ring future Things of wond’rous Weight.
1729. Law, Serious C., xv. (1732), 274. It is certain, that all such bodily actions as affect the soul, are of great weight in Religion.
a. 1770. Jortin, Serm. (1771), II. xix. 377. This is an argument of weight.
1783. Burke, Sp. Fox’s E. India Bill, Wks. 1792, II. 417. The objection is of weight.
1851. Helps, Comp. Solit., xi. 214. The night-mares of care and trouble cease to weigh as if they were the only things of weight in the world.
(b) 1581. N. Burne, Disput., To King a v. As the importance and vecht of the mater requyris.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lxv. § 4. Ceremonies haue more in waight then in sight.
1614. Raleigh, Hist. World, IV. vii. § 2. 299. Considering better … the weight of the businesse, which he had taken in hand.
1662. Howell, New Engl. Gram., 16. In French she [the letter Y] is of that weight that she makes somtimes a whole word of her self.
1708. Swift, Sacram. Test, Misc. (1711), 328. But there is no great weight in this.
1741. Watts, Improv. Mind, II. iv. The weight and force of argument which should influence the mind.
1830. Cunningham, Brit. Paint., I. 223. Yet weight must be allowed to the opinion of Northcote.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iv. I. 513. Weight of moral character was indeed wanting to Edward Seymour.
1861. Buckle, Civiliz. (1869), III. v. 324. Having no wealth to give him weight.
1888. Bryce, Amer. Commw., I. viii. 106. The two elections … are the best evidence of the weight of this consideration.
b. spec. The relative value of an observation.
1838. De Morgan, Ess. Probab., 138. The method of finding an average is this: multiply every observation by its weight and divide the sum of the products by the sum of the weights.
16. Persuasive or convincing power (of utterances, arguments, evidence); impressiveness (of matter or speech).
1534. Ld. Berners, Golden Bk. M. Aurel., Prol. (1535), A iv. It suffiseth to gyue for the weyght the sentence.
1543. Udall, Erasm. Apopth., Erasm. Pref. **iiij b. A famous speaker … geueth to the saiynges moche weight and grace also.
1586. A. Day, Engl. Secretorie, I. (1625), 5. A matter of gravity is to be delivered with waight.
1630. Prynne, Anti-Armin., 113. A Sentence of sufficient antiquity and weight to put a period to this Controuersie.
1716. Addison, Free-holder, No. 19, ¶ 3. Having nothing of any manner of weight to offer against the principles of their antagonists.
1783. Blair, Rhet., xviii. I. 365. Nothing derogates more from the weight and dignity of any composition, than too great attention to ornament.
1829. Southey, Lett. (1856), IV. 158. But this detracts not from the weight of your reasoning.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 172. No man spoke with more weight and dignity in council and in parliament.
1866. Mrs. Whitney, L. Goldthw., ii. The ‘O father!’ was not without its weight.
17. Weightiest or heaviest part; greatest stress or severity: preponderance, superior amount (of evidence, authority) on one side or the other of a question.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 621. xv. thousand men, in whom consisted the waight and peyse of the whole enterprise.
1665. Brathwait, Comment Two Tales, 199. Weight of Judgment has ever given Invention Priority before Language.
1722. De Foe, Hist. Plague (1754), 8. The Parish of St. Giles’s, where still the Weight of the Infection lay.
1866. Rogers, Agric. & Prices, I. x. 168. The weight of evidence is in favour of the latter hypothesis.
1883. Law Rep., 11 Q. B. D. 591. An order … for a new trial on the ground … that the verdict was against the weight of evidence.
18. In various phrases:
a. To lay weight upon: to urge (a person) to do something (obs.); to attach importance or value to.
(a) 1600. Holland, Livy, XLIX. 1238. The woman laid great wait upon me to depart out of those quarters.
(b.) 1708. Swift, Sacram. Test, Misc. (1711), 336. We are apt to lay some weight upon their Opinion.
1815. Scott, Guy M., iv. We lay no weight whatever upon the pretended information thus conveyed.
1863. B. Taylor, Quaker Widow, xvi. And it was brought upon my mind … That we on dress and outward things perhaps lay too much weight.
† b. To hold weight with: to vie in greatness with. Obs.
1641. J. Shute, Sarah & Hagar (1649), 148. For there are but few deliverances temporall, that hold weight with the delivery from the paines of child-birth.
c. To have weight: to make an impression on, weigh with (those who judge a matter); to receive favorable consideration; to be recognized as valid or important. Similarly to carry weight.
1638. Sir K. Digby, Lett. to Ld. G. Digby (1651), 10. I conceive they are to have no more weight with those that have ability to examine them, then [etc.].
1707. Freind, Peterboro’s Cond. Sp., 108. The latter opinion had its weight, and prevail’d.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa (1768), I. 213. If … such narrow motives have so little weight with me.
1771. Junius Lett., lix. 308. The conditions which constitute this right must be taken together. Separately, they have little weight.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), I. 368. If the tenant … were likely to be prejudiced by not being named, this objection would have weight.
1858. Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872), I. 31. The visé of a minister carries more weight.
† d. Upon the weight of: on the strength of, by relying on the value of. Obs.
1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 4 Introd. I shall not pretend to raise a Credit to this work, upon the Weight of my politic News only.
e. To give (full, due) weight to: to allow (a plea, argument, circumstance) its proper force; to weigh equitably; to treat as valid or important.
1885. Manch. Exam., 26 June, 5/3. His Holiness has given due weight to the many conflicting aspects of the case. Ibid., 10 July, 5/1. It is proper to give full weight to the exculpatory evidence adduced.
19. Influence or authority (of a person) due to character or ability, position, office, wealth, or the like. Chiefly in phrases of weight, of (great, etc.) weight.
1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 4, ¶ 7. Those Persons at the Helm are so useful, and in themselves of such Weight.
1747. Frauds & Abuses Coal-Dealers (ed. 3), 5. In all popular Assemblies, it has been found necessary to place some Man of Weight and Dignity in the Chair.
1779. J. Moore, View Soc. France (1789), I. iv. 25. Their opinions have considerable weight on the manners and opinions of people of rank.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xiii. III. 253. It could hardly be doubted that they were directed by some leader of great weight.
1885. Manch. Exam., 6 Nov., 5/3. Political economists of weight refused to join the Commission.
IV. A standard of quantity determined by, or employed in, weighing.
20. † a. A standard of weight. Obs.
a. 1000. Laws Edgar, III. viii. in Liebermann, 204. Gange an ʓemet and an ʓewihte swylce man on Lundenbyriʓ and on Wintanceastre healde.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, 212, in O. E. Hom., I. 173. Godes wisdom is wel muchel … & nis his milce naut lesse, ac bi þan ilke iwichte. Ibid. (c. 1200), 384 (Trin. MS.) ibid., II. 231. Þar ne sullen [hi] habben god alle bi one wihte.
a. 1400. Eng. Gilds, 356. Þare þe kynges wyȝte by-lyþ. Ibid., 356. Þe kinges by whas wyȝte hit be y-weye.
1429. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 349/1. It was ordeinid … yat on weiȝte and on mesure be bi al ye Reme, as wel with oute ye Estaple as with ynne.
b. With addition of a distinguishing word, as in troy, avoirdupois weight: Any of the various systems (consisting of a series of units in fixed arithmetical relation to each other) used for stating the weight of a quantity of matter.
a. 1500. in Arnolde, Chron. (1811), 191. Ther beth iij maner weyghtis, that is to wete, troy weyght, auncell weyghtis, and lyggynge weyght.
1540. Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.), II. 222. Euery person … shuld sell the same by liefull weight called Haberdepoys.
1545. Rates Custom-ho., d v. Fyrst of the wayght of Troye … By thys wayght is bought and solde golde … and iewels.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., s.v. Weights, There are two sorts … in use with us; the one called Troy weight … the other Avoir-du-pois.
1713. Berkeley, Guardian, No. 35, ¶ 7. Ten Pound Averdupoise Weight of this Philosophical Snuff.
1724. Swift, Drapier, i. (1730), 15. Twenty Shillings will weigh Six Pounds Butter Weight.
1891. Labour Commission, Gloss., Short, statute or imperial weight.—2,240 lbs. to the ton … Long weight.—2,400 lbs. to the ton.
21. A unit or denomination of ponderable quantity.
c. 1200. Ormin, 7812. All þatt mann shollde biggen ut wiþþ file wehhte [= shekels] off sillferr.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 28437. Again þe lagh … haf i wysed fals weght and mette.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VI. xvii. (MS. Addit. 27944). Mna is a certeyn wiȝte and valewe.
1623. Cockeram, II. A weight of three graines, Kirat.
1857. J. H. Walsh, Dom. Econ., 620. The last mentioned goods may be sold either by the heaped measure, or by the standard weight.
1863. Miss Braddon, Aur. Floyd, xxxi. She knew—to the smallest weight employed at Apothecaries’ Hall … how much sugar Mr. Bulstrode liked in his tea.
b. In pl. and coupled with measures.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, II. 227. Caym … tornede symple lyuynge [of] men to fyndynge of mesures and of wyȝtes [L. ponderum et mensurarum].
1596. (title) The Pathway to Knowledge. Conteyning certaine brief Tables of English waights, and Measures.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., s.v. Weights, One Phidon an Argive is said to have bin the first finder out of Weights and Measures.
1741–2. Gray, Agrip., 4. The power To judge of weights and measures.
1799. Med. Jrnl., I. 199. The operations relative to a general uniformity of weights and measures.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 393. The Weights and Measures Act (5th Geo. IV., c. 74).
† c. Used in various localities as a name for the customary unit for weighing particular commodities (e.g., wool, hemp, cheese, potatoes); the quantity denoted differs greatly in different places (see quots.). Cf. WEY, and MEASURE sb. 5 b. Obs.
1490. in Somerset Med. Wills (1901), 291. I have xviii weyghts of wulle besydes the bequestes aforeseyd.
a. 1500. in Arnolde, Chron. (1811), 263. The weyght of Essex chese is … CCC. weyght, fyue score xij. li. for the C. The weyght of Suffolk chese is xij. score and xvi. li.
1592. in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870), I. 381. Ane neif full of ewirrie wecht of voll.
1656. H. Phillips, Purch. Pattern (ed. 3), 193. There are some other denominations of these weights in several places, as … Rooves, Weights, Loads.
1687. A. Lovell, Thevenot’s Trav., I. 98. The Inhabitants make Five thousand Weight of Silk yearly, with the Money whereof they pay their Tribute.
1881. A. Rimmer, Old Country Towns, 278. A ‘weight’ for some unexplained cause, was the Boston method of expressing 256 pounds.
1830. Brewster, Edin. Encycl., VII. 221/2. [In Cork] Potatoes, when retailed in market, are sold by a measure called a weight, generally containing 21 lb.
1856. Morton, Cycl. Agric., II. 1127 (Dorsets.), of wool, a weigh or weight is 30 lbs., and 1/2 lb. or 1 lb. over in some places. Weight (Dorsets.), of hemp, 8 beads of 4 lbs., twisted and tied, making 32 lbs. (Somers.), of hemp, 30 lbs.
22. A piece of metal or other substance, weighing a known amount and identical with one of the units or with a multiple or aliquot part of a unit in some recognized scale.
In early instances false weights is ambiguous, as it may be referred either to this sense or to 24 (pair of scales); probably the writers did not always distinguish, the virtual sense being ‘fraudulent weighing.’
1340. Ayenb., 44. Huanne me heþ diuerse wyȝtes … and beggeþ be þe gratteste wyȝtes … and zelleþ by þe leste.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIX. cxxxi. (1495), 940. Somtyme massy thynges and heuy by the whyche the heuynesse is assayed is callyd a weyght.
1420. E. E. Wills (1882), 46. I ȝeve to þe sam William a beme þat I weye þer-wyth, and ij leuys, also iijc of ledyn wyȝtis.
c. 1430. Contin. Brut, 448. In þat tyme þe gold of þe realme went by weght; And euery man had a payr ballaunce And weghttes in hys sleve for þe gold.
1467. Eng. Gilds, 383. That all other wightes wtyn the cite … be ensealed accordynge to the kynges standart.
1474. Caxton, Chesse, III. iv. (1883), 107. A man holding in his ryght hand a balance And the weyght in the lifte hand.
1540. Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.), II. 222. Sufficient beames scales and weightes sealid … for true seruing of the byers.
1583. Rates Custom ho., A vj b. Brasse weights called pile weights the c, l. s.
1656. W. Du Gard, trans. Comenius’ Gate Lat. Unl., § 536. The lightest little waight, giving motion to the Ballance, they call a Grain.
1784. J. Twamley, Dairying Exempl., 59. Press it with a four pound weight, or … with a lighter weight.
1892. Photogr. Ann., II. p. cxvii. Scales and Weights.
b. Athletics. A heavy lump of stone, or ball of metal, which is thrown from one hand placed close to the shoulder. Commonly in the Sc. phr. putting the weight (see PUT v.1 2, PUTTING vbl. sb.1 8). Also ellipt. as the name of this sport.
1865. Field, 21 Jan., 34/1. Throwing the hammer, putting the weight.
23. A block or lump of metal or other heavy substance, or a heavy object, used to pull or press down something, to give an impulse to machinery (e.g., in a clock), to act as a counterpoise, or the like. Cf. letter-weight, paper-weight, sash weight, JACK-WEIGHT.
c. 1425. Macro Plays, Cast. Persev., 1943. Þis worthy, wylde werld, I wagge with a wyt [= wyȝt].
1515. in Archæol. Cant. XXXIII. 17. Payed for mendyng off the waithe off the clock ij d.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Kings xxi. 13. Ouer Ierusalem wyll I stretch forth the lyne of Samaria, and the weighte of the house of Achab.
1606. Shuttleworths’ Acc. (Chetham Soc.), 175. Payed for the jacke, the cordes and pullies, xxys; the weight and cheans, vs.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 66. The dores likewise by waights are made to shut of themselves at the heeles of him that comes in.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 266. A delicate Clock with weights to it.
1774. M. Mackenzie, Maritime Surv., 48. Let the Weight at the End of the Line be pretty heavy.
1774. Pennsylv. Gaz., 9 Feb. Suppl. 2/3. Sash pullies, weights and lines.
1833. J. Holland, Manuf. Metals, II. 299. A weight being attached to the hook b, the spring is drawn downwards.
1838. Hawthorne, Amer. Note-bks. (1868), I. 216. There was a clock without a case, the weights being visible.
fig. 1622. Bacon, Hen. VII., 189. By Gods wonderfull prouidence, that … hangeth great Weights vpon small Wyres.
1639. J. Clarke, Parœm., 109. Great weights hang on small wyers.
1641. Gauden, Love of Truth, 22. Love is the weight and motor of the soule.
† b. To go on weights (see quot.). Obs.
1597. A. M., trans. Guillemeau’s Fr. Chirurg., 50/4. The small, thinne, and Hern-fashoned hippes and legges, wherof we commonlye say ‘they goe one Wayghtes.’
V. A means of weighing.
† 24. pl., less commonly sing. (A pair of) scales, a balance. Also in figurative context. Obs.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter lxi. 10. Liyhers sones of men are ai In weghtes [L. in stateris].
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1734. Þy wale rengne is walt in weȝtes to heng, & is funde ful fewe of hit fayth dedes.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 332. If that I mihte finde a sleyhte, To leie al myn astat in weyhte.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIX. cxxx. (1495), nn iij. In this wyse … the thynge in the whyche a thynge is weyed is callyd a weyghte.
1437. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 508/2. Where ye Kings Weightes and his Beem ben sette.
1513. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 763. The world would put her and her kindred in the wight, and say that they had … broken the amitie and peace.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 220. One of these byrdes with her nest put in a paire of gold weights,… hath waid no more than .ii. Tomini.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. ii. 45. The false he layd In th’ other scale; but still it downe did slide, And by no meane could in the weight be stayd.
a. 1619. Fotherby, Atheom., II. i. § 3 (1622), 174. That … weigheth the mountaines in a waite.
1629. Z. Boyd, Last Battell, IV. 499. Dauid in his time put them in the weights together [Ps. lxii. 9].
VI. 25. a. attrib., as weight balk, beam, -charge, -equivalent, scale, sense, stone, thermometer; weight-clock, a clock operated by weights; weight cloth, a cloth carried by a jockey to make up his riding-weight; † weight-house, a weigh-house; weight nail (see quot.); weight-plate, a plate on which articles are set to be weighed in a weighing-machine.
1575. Richmond Wills (Surtees), 255. j olde *weight balke with skayles, ij d.
1462. Maldon (Essex) Court Rolls (Bundle 37, No. 4 b). A *weght beme de ferro, precii iiii s.
1898. Daily News, 7 Dec., 2/7. The *weight-charge on packets above 1lb. in weight.
1850. Denison, Clock & Watch-m., 110. The great wheel of a *weight-clock rides on the barrel arbor.
1889. Daily News, 4 June, 3/8. Before … her driver could return to weigh in his *weight cloths were abstracted from the sulky.
1897. Singer & Berens, Some Unrecognized Laws Nat., 107. The volume-equivalent would be too great and the *weight-equivalent too small.
1714. Fr. Bk. Rates, 300. Any of the Duties of the King’s *Weight-House.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 134. *Weight nails are similar to deck nails, but not so fine, have square heads, and are used for fastening cleats, &c.
1887. P. M’Neill, Blawearie, 169. The colliery engineer was quickly on the ground, [and] the *weight-plate removed.
1849. Noad, Electricity (ed. 3), 357. A similar bow was formed on the back of the armature, to which the *weight scale was attached.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VI. 709. The *weight sense was lost in the hands as well as in the feet.
1469. Plumpton Corr. (Camden), 21. I have a counterpais wheith of the *wheight stone that the wooll was weyed with.
1849. R. V. Dixon, Heat, I. 52. One an air thermometer,… the other a mercurial *weight thermometer.
b. Comb., as weight-carrier (esp. a horse that can carry a heavy rider), -carrying, -lifting, -maker, -raising, -resisting, -thrower, † -wiser (= indicator).
1862. G. A. Lawrence, Barren Honour, xix. II. 90. Red Lancer is a very model of a fast *weight-carrier.
1893. F. F. Moore, I Forbid Banns (1899), 31. It has the build of a weight-carrier, that chair.
1883. Mrs. E. Kennard, Right Sort, xix. Mounted on a huge *weight-carrying hunter.
1897. Daily News, 14 May, 3/2. Our baggage animals—to the limit of their weight-carrying capacity. Ibid. (1896), 6 April, 5/7. The London *Weight-lifting Club.
1902. Daily Chron., 28 April, 5/3. A series of weight-lifting competitions.
1647. in W. M. Williams, Ann. Founders’ Co. (1867), 103. No *Wayght Maker that doth cast Brass Wayghtes and … put them to sale.
1850. Denison, Clock & Watch-m., 245. The going part is also reduced … to a mere *weight-raising machine.
1708. Philips, Cyder, I. 265. Hazel, and *weight-resisting Palm.
1895. Outing, XXVI. 461/2. Any one of her five *weight throwers could beat the best man at Cambridge.
1685. Phil. Trans., XV. 1003. We find, by several sorts of Baroscopes (or *weight-wisers) not only that [etc.].
