[weight] n [ME wight, weght, fr. OE wiht; akin to ON vaett weight, OE wegan to weigh] (bef. 12c) 1 a: the amount that a thing weighs b (1): the standard or established amount that a thing should weigh (2): one of the classes into which contestants in a sports event are divided according to body weight (3): poundage required to be carried by a horse in a handicap race
2. a: a quantity or thing weighing a fixed and usu. specified amount b: a heavy object (as a metal ball) thrown, put, or lifted as an athletic exercise or contest 3 a: a unit of weight or mass b: a piece of material (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. a: burden, pressure b: the quality or state of being ponderous c: corpulence
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 b: measurable influence esp. on others 8: overpowering force 9: the quality (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 syn see importance, influence
[2]weight vt (1647) 1: to oppress with a burden "~ed 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: weigh 1 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 ~ed so heavily in favor of the upper classes --A. S. Link"
6: to shift the burden of weight upon "~ the inside ski"