SCALES

[plural] [noun], US scale [noun] [C] - a device for weighing things or peopleHe's just moved into a new house and he wants some kitchen and bathroom scales for his birthday.See pictures: Bathroom, ScalesScales used in hospitals have a raised area on which a person stands while someone weighs them by moving a weight along a horizontal metal bar until the bar balances.See picture: ScalesA pair of scales is a weighing device with two containers attached to a metal bar which is free to move up and down about its fixed central point. An object of known weight is put in one container and the thing to be weighed is put in the other. When their weights are equal, the scales balance.