Obs. [JACK sb.1 7.] A weight forming part of the mechanism in an obsolete form of a roasting-jack.
1659. Lond. Chanticleers, xii. in Hazl., Dodsley, XII. 352. A woman’s anger should be like jack-weights—quickly up and quickly down.
a. 1784. Johnson, Acc. Early Life. I remembered a little dark room behind the kitchen, where the jack-weight fell through a hole in the floor, into which I once slipped my leg.
a. 1814. Last Act, I. iii. in New Brit. Theatre, II. 371. A short thick squat zort of a mon, fit for the devil’s jack-weight.
