Pa. t. and pa. pple. weighed. Forms: 1 weʓan (3rd sing. wiʓeð, wihð; weʓeð, wehð), 2–4 weiȝe (3 3rd sing. weihð), 3–4 weȝe, weyȝe, 4 weghe, 6 weygh(e, waygh, 6–7 weighe, waigh(e, 6– weigh; 2–6 weie, 3–7 weye (5 wheyhe, 5–7 Sc. veye), 4–7 (9 Sc.) wey (5–7 Sc. vey); 4–7 waie, 5–7 waye (5 whaye), way, 6–7 weay; 5–6 north. and Sc. wye (5 whye), 7 Sc. wie; 5 whe, 6 Sc. we-, ve-, 9 Sc. wee. Pa. t. α. 1 wæʓ, pl. wǽʓon, 3 way, pl. weȝe, 4 weȝ, wey, weyȝ(e, weygh, wayȝ, weghe, weie, (? woghe). β. 3–4 weide (3 pl. weiden), 3–5 weiede, 4 we(y)ȝed(e, etc., 4–7 weied, weyed, 6–7 wayed, waied, waighed, etc., 6– weighed. Pa. pple. α. 1 weʓen, 2–3 iwæiȝen, 4 yweȝe, weyen, (i-), (y)wey(e, (i)weie; 5 wawyn, wowyn, wowne. β. 4 yweid, (i)weied, weȝed, 4–7 weyed, 5 weiede, 5–6 weyd, 6 wei(e)d, wayed, wayd(e, etc., 7– weighed. [A Com. Teut. strong verb: OE. weʓan (wæʓ, wǽʓon, weʓen) corresponds to OFris. wega, weia to move, weigh, OSax. wegan to weigh, (M)Du. wegen to weigh, OHG. wegan to move, shake, weigh (MHG. wegen; mod.G. has bewegen to move, while the simple verb is represented by the two verbs wāgen trans., to weigh, wiegen intr., to weigh, be of a certain weight), ON. vega to lift, weigh (Sw. väga, Da. veie, to weigh), Goth. ga-wigan (only Luke vi. 38 in pa. pple. fem. gawigana shaken). The Teut. root *weʓ-, *waʓ-, *wǣʓ- (for words representing the several grades see WAY sb.; WAG v., WAGON, WAIN, WAW sb.1 and v.1; WEIGH sb.1, WEY) is:—Indogermanic *wegh-, *wogh-, *wēgh-, found in Skr. vah, L. vehĕre to carry, Gr. ϝοχος, ὄχος vehicle.
The remarkably early appearance of the weak conjugation was prob. due to confusion with WEIGH v.2; the two OE. verbs weʓan and wecʓan coincided in the form weʓeð of the 3rd sing. pres. (though the former verb had also the more normal wiʓeð). The strong inflexion of the pa. t. died out in the 14th century, and that of the pa. pple. in the 15th.]
I. To bear, carry, hold up; to heave up, lift.
† 1. trans. To bear from one place to another; to carry, transport. Obs.
In quots. 13[?] ? To carry round and serve (wine).
Beowulf, 1207. He þa frætwe wæʓ … ofer yða ful.
c. 1000. Narratiunculæ (1861), 9. Micel mæniʓeo elpenda þa þe gold wæʓon & læddon.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1420. So faste þay weȝed to him wyne, hit warmed his hert. Ibid., 1508. Weȝe wyn in þis won, wassayl, he cryes.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1403. Wyȝez þe walle wyn weȝed to hem oft.
† 2. To bear (arms); to wear (a robe, etc.). Obs.
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xiii. 77. On ðæm selfan hræʓle, ðe he on his breostum wæʓ.
c. 900. Bæda’s Hist., II. ix. (1890), 123. Hæfde he & wæʓ mid hine twiecge handseax ʓeættred.
c. 1205. Lay., 24471. Heo weȝe on heore honde feouwer sweord of golde. Ibid., 26279. Ælc weiede an sculdre sceld swiðe godne.
c. 1250. Owl & Night., 1022 (Cott.). He miȝte þet teche ane bore To weȝe [Jes. bere] boþe sheld & spere.
† 3. With up: To hold up, support. Obs.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 49. He ðe weiȝþ upp mid his fingre heuene and ierðe.
4. † a. With up: To hoist, to lift up. Obs.
1421–2. Hoccleve, Dialogue, 402. Right as a theef þat hath eschapid ones The roop, no dreede hath eft his art to vse, Til þat the trees him weye vp, body and bones.
1563–83. Foxe, A. & M., 1472/2. They tooke the sayd Roode and weyed hym vppe and set him in his olde accustomed place.
1669. Worlidge, Syst. Agric., viii. § 1. 132. With which Tongs you may Beclip the [Hop-]Pole at the bottom, and resting the joynt thereof on a block of wood, you may weigh up the Pole.
† b. fig. To raise up, exalt. Obs.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. CVII. xiv. [God] from want the poore doth waigh.
c. Naut. To set up (a mast).
1841. Dana, Seaman’s Man., 134. Weigh, to lift up; as, to weigh an anchor or a mast.
5. Naut. To heave up (a ship’s anchor) from the ground, before sailing. Now usually to weigh anchor (without art.). † Formerly also with up, in.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 103. Cables þay fasten, Wiȝt at þe wyndas weȝen her ankres.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 740. Wyghtly one þe wale thay wye up þaire ankers.
1492. Acta Dom. Concil. (1839), 245/1. Compelling of þe saidis Wegeantis seruitouris to wey þer ankeris.
1509. Barclay, Shyp of Folys (1874), I. 108. Come to our shyp our ankers ar in wayde.
c. 1515. Cocke Lorell’s B. (Percy Soc.), 14. Than Cocke wayed anker, and housed his sayle.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. V., 44 b. When the wynde was prosperous … they waied up the Ankers.
1556. W. Towrson, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 101. We wayed our Grapnel and went away.
1628. Digby, Voy. Mediterr. (1868), 19. I weighed anchor and sett sayle.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., II. 45. The windes fauouring vs, we weighed Ankors.
1653. Holcroft, Procopius, Gothick Wars, I. 11. Constantianus wayed Anchor from Epidaurus.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton, x. (1840), 173. We weighed anchor the same tide, and stood out to sea.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, III. iv. Cormac Doil … Hoisted his sail, his anchor weigh’d.
1835. Sir J. Ross, Narr. 2nd Voy., v. 77. We immediately weighed anchor.
b. fig.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 17. I will streight weie anker, and hoyse vp sayle.
1633. Massinger, Guardian, Prol. Our Author weighs up anchors, and once more Forsaking the security of the shore, Resolves to prove his fortune.
1650. R. Stapylton, Strada’s Low C. Wars, II. 36. As often as this sacred Anchor [of Religion] is weighed, so often the Ship of the Common-Wealth is tossed.
1882. Noah Brooks, in Century Mag., Sept., 707/2. He for whom the sexton has tolled the bell has ‘weighed anchor.’
c. absol. = to weigh anchor. Hence, to sail (from, out of a port, etc.).
1513. Sir E. Howard, in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. II. I. 215. We cowd ryd no lenger ther withowt gret danger,… we weyd to get us in to the Downes.
1549. Compl. Scot., vi. 40. The maister … bald the marynalis lay the cabil to the cabilstok, to veynde and veye.
1556. W. Towrson, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 101. Wee wayed and set saile.
1613. J. Saris, Voy. Japan (Hakl. Soc.), 1. The 14th in the morning we wayed out of the roade of Bantam for Japan.
a. 1647. Pette, in Archaeologia, XII. 226. On Wednesday … we weighed from Limehouse, and anchored right against the Tower.
1748. Anson’s Voy., I. iv. (ed. 4), 47. On the 3d of November we weighed from Madera.
1808. Wellington, in Gurw., Desp., IV. 193. I found about 60 of the convoy had lost their anchors in attempting to weigh.
1867. Pall Mall Gaz., 19 July, 9/1. It would have been necessary for each ship to weigh singly, which would have occupied fifteen minutes each.
1893. H. M. Doughty, Wherry in Wendish Lands, 20. In the morning we weighed early.
6. To raise (a sunk ship, gun, etc.) from the bottom of the water. Also with up.
a. a. 1500. in Arnolde’s Chron. (1811), 133. After tyme she was weyed and toued to the hauyn at Caleis.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 26. Leuyng the gonne (because the master carpenter sayde yt he woulde shortely way it out of the water).
1578. W. Bourne, Treas. Trav., IV. viii. 17. Then it will waygh or lyfte the sunken Shyppe from the bottome.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., V. xii. 81. Rules to weigh Ships, or Guns, or any thing else in the Water.
1726. Shelvocke, Voy. round World, 239. [The diver] could find but one small gun, which he weigh’d and brought ashore.
1777. J. Putnam, in Sparks, Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853), II. 540. Should the enemy succeed in weighing the chevaux-de-frise, and proceed up the river.
1783. Cowper, Lett. to J. Hill, 20 Oct. I must beg leave, however … to mourn … that the Royal George cannot be weighed.
b. 1545. Dk. Suffolk, in Hooker, Life Sir P. Carew (1857), 129. I trust by Monday or Twisday … the Mary Rose shalbe wayed upp and saved.
1598. W. Phillip, trans. Linschoten, I. xcix. 194/2. The Reuenge had in her diuers faire brasse peeces, that were all sunke in the sea, which they of the Island were in good hope to waigh vp againe.
1643. Baker, Chron., Hen. VIII., 7. A great Gunne … was overthrowne in a deep Pond of water;… the Master Carpenter taking with him a hundred labourers, went and weyed it up.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 6 June 1687. A vast treasure, which was sunk in a Spanish galloon … was now weigh’d up by some gentlemen.
1735. S. Gale in Archaeologia, I. 189, note. One of these stakes, entire, was actually weighed up between two loaded barges at the time of a great flood.
1760. S. Derrick, Lett. (1767), I. 16. She being effectually sucked in by the heavy sandy bottom, all attempts to weigh her up have been ineffectual.
1782. Cowper, Loss of Royal George, 25. Weigh the vessel up…; Her timbers yet are sound, And she may float again.
1815. Local Act 55 Geo. III., c. lv. § 73. If any Boat … shall be sunk in any Part of the said Canal,… and the Owner … shall not, without loss of Time, weigh or draw up the same.
† c. intr. for refl. To be raised up; to admit of being raised. Obs.
1655. W. Hammond, On death of Brother (No. 2). Only this difference, that sunk downward, this Weigh’d up to bliss.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., V. xii. 81. If the thing sunk be upon Sands or Rocks, it will weigh the better.
II. To balance in the scales; to ascertain the weight of; to consider or compare in this respect.
7. trans. To ascertain the exact heaviness of (an object or substance) by balancing it in a pair of scales, or on a steelyard, against a counterpoise of known amount.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gram., xiii. 84. Ælc þæra ðinga, þe man wihð on wæʓan.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., I. 374. Ʒenim ʓeoluwne stan & salt stan & pipor & weh on wæʓe.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 213. Gif hit chepinge be, þe me shule meten oðer weien.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 17. He wile hes habben wel imotet and bi rihte wæiȝe wel iwæiȝen.
1340. Ayenb., 44. Huanne þo þet zelleþ be wyȝte purchaceþ and makeþ zuo moche þet þet þing þet me ssel weȝe sseweþ more heuy.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Sam. xiv. 26. He weiede [1388 weiȝide] the heeris of his heed with two hundred siclis bi the comoun weiȝt.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. X. 273. When … þe woolle worth weye, woo ys þe þenne.
a. 1400. Eng. Gilds (1870), 356. Þe kynges by whas wyȝte hit be yweye.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 533/1. Wowyn, or weyyd, ponderatus, libratus.
1469. Plumpton Corr. (Camden), 21. The wheight stone that the wooll was weyed with.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., IV. i. 255. Are there ballance heere to weigh the flesh?
1613. J. Saris, Voy. Japan (Hakl. Soc.), 42. A Beame to waye spice with.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 98. They weigh the cheese when it is set on Table, and taken away, being paid by the weight.
1758. Johnson, Idler, No. 28, ¶ 9. Engines should be fixed in proper places to weigh chairs as they weigh waggons.
1765. Museum Rust., IV. 179. We have weighed it green, that is, just after mowing, against all the other pasture grasses, and it out-weighs them all.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., xv. (1842), 387. A graduated transfer jar containing the gas to be weighed.
1863. Miss Braddon, Aurora Floyd, xiii. While the numbers were going up, and the jockeys being weighed.
1894. Sir J. Astley, 50 Years Life, II. 212. When we weighed their riders after the morning’s work, we found that Peter was giving Foxhall two stone and a half.
b. absol.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 118. Furst I leornede to lyȝe a lessun or tweyne, And wikkedliche for to weie was myn oþer lessun.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 122. Libra … hath figure and resemblance Unto a man which a balance Berth in his hond as forto weie.
1474. Caxton, Chesse, III. vii. (1883), 138. And by the potte and elle ben signefyed them that haue the charge to weye and mete and mesure truly.
c. In Horse-racing. To weigh out, in: to take the weight of (a jockey) respectively before and after a race. (Cf. 9.)
1890. Rules of Racing, in Encycl. Sport (1898), II. 224. The Stakeholder shall not allow a jockey to be weighed out for any horse until such horse’s stake [etc.] have been paid. Ibid., 225. The Clerk of the Scales … shall in all cases weigh in the riders of the horses…, and report to the Stewards any jockey not presenting himself to be weighed in.
8. To measure a definite quantity of (a substance) on the scales. Usually with out: To portion out (a quantity measured by weight) from a larger mass; to apportion (such a quantity) to (a person or persons); † to measure exactly or to the full weight (obs.). Also with in, into: To introduce a specified weight of (a substance), to add as an ingredient.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Can. Yeom. Prol. & T., 745. And of that coper [he] weyed out [Cambr. MS. vp] but an ounce.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., II. iii. 33 b. We began to way out the bisket vnto the gallie slaues.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. ii. 35. For at the first they all created were In goodly measure, by their Makers might, And weighed out in ballaunces so nere, That not a dram was missing of their right.
1615. R. Cocks, Diary (Hakl. Soc.), I. 88. We wayed out the wax which came in the Hozeander, and fownd it want a tonne. Ibid. (1616), 111. We waid out the pepper to day for the king. Ibid., 217. He delivered or wayd out much more to Tomo Dono and Cushcron Dono.
a. 1646. Burroughes, Exp. Hosea, iii. (1652), 197. Never did any skilfull Physitian more carefully weigh out to every dram what the potion should be that is to be given to a child, than God doth weigh out every affliction that he sendeth upon his children.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., iii. (1842), 75. No further difficulty will now arise in the way of graduating a tube. The 34.25 grains of mercury are to be weighed in…. Another 34.25 grains of mercury are to be weighed into the tube to the metal already contained in it. Ibid., xii. 283. If it be found that as many parts of the acid have been used as of grains of the carbonate weighed out, the acid is of proper strength.
† b. To measure (a sum of money) by weight, in order to pay it to (a person). Chiefly in Biblical renderings. Also with out, down. Obs. (So OE. aweʓan, G. wägen, dar-, zuwägen.)
1382. Wyclif, Zech. xi. 12. And thei weyȝiden my meede, thritti platis of syluer. Ibid. (1388), Job xxviii. 15. Nether siluer schal be weied [1382 peisid] in the chaungyng therof.
1535. Coverdale, Jer. xxxii. 10. I … weyed him there the money vpon the waightes. Ibid., Zech. xi. 12. So they wayed downe xxx. syluer pens, ye value that I was prysed at.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 492/2. An officer that weyed out mony for soldiers wages.
1607. Dekker & Webster, Westw.-Hoe, II. i. Some [are] cutting purses, some cheating, some weying out bribes.
c. fig. To dispense or administer (justice) impartially.
c. 1400. 26 Pol. Poems, i. 14. Weye o lawe in euenhede, Bytwen ffauour and vengeaunce.
1562. A. Scott, Poems, i. 29. (To Q. Mary) Waye iustice, equale without discrepance.
9. intr. in Horse-racing. Of a jockey: To take his place in the scales, in order that his declared weight may be verified by the clerk. To weigh out, in, to do this before and after a race. (Cf. 7 c.)
1805. Weatherby’s Racing Cal., XXXII. p. xxxviii. That every person who shall ride at Newmarket for Plate, Sweepstakes, or Match, shall be obliged to weigh when he comes in.
1858. Rules of Racing, § 37. Jockies are required to weigh at the usual place of weighing, before the race,… and every rider is, immediately after the race, to ride his horse to the usual place of weighing,… and to weigh to the satisfaction of the person appointed for that purpose.
1868. Whyte-Melville, White Rose, I. xiv. 174. Their riders are drinking sherry … preparatory to ‘weighing in.’ Ibid., 182. Mr. Snipe, returning to weigh after an easy victory.
1877. Rules of Racing, § 31. Weighing out and starting. Ibid., § 34. Weighing in.
1879. J. Rice, Hist. Turf, I. 298. The rider of Musjid … is said to have weighed in and weighed out with a whip weighing 7 or 9 lbs. and to have exchanged it for a lighter whip before and after the race.
1920. Masefield, Right Royal, 33. When the clock struck three and the men weighed out. Ibid., 119. Then the riders weighed-in, and the meeting was over.
b. Hence To weigh in with: to introduce or produce (something that is additional or extra). colloq.
1885. Daily News, Nov. (Passing English, 1909). The journal ‘weighs in’ with a prismatic Christmas number.
1901. Eric Parker, in Macm. Mag., April, 464/1. Carver … used to sit up and snort a bit when we weighed in with hock and seltzer instead of tea.
1921. D. Mackail, Romance to Rescue, i. 10. A Rhodes scholar weighed in with praise of Greenwich Village.
10. trans. To hold (an object) in the hand (or in both hands) in order to observe or estimate its weight; to balance an object in the hand (or hands) as if estimating its weight.
1540. Palsgr., Acolastus, II. iii. M j b. Waye me this gyrdel heuy with moche golde .i. fele me this girdell, howe heuy it is with golde.
1781. Cowper, Expost., 343. Who poises and proportions sea and land, Weighing them in the hollow of his hand.
1815. Scott, Guy M., lvii. ‘But why should be know of it?’ said Glossin, slipping a couple of guineas into Mac-Guffog’s hand. The turnkey weighed the gold, and looked sharp at Glossin.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, xxiii. Mr. Bumble … counted the teaspoons, weighed the sugar-tongs. Ibid. (1848), Dombey, lvi. He remained before him weighing his white hat in both hands by the brim.
1911. H. W. & F. G. Fowler, Concise Oxf. Dict., s.v., [He] meditatively weighed his stick in his hand.
b. To keep (the wings) evenly outspread in flight. poet.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 1046. Satan … in the emptier waste, resembling Air, Weighs his spread wings.
11. fig. (with more or less retention of the literal idea or expression): To estimate, assess the value of (a person, a condition, quality, etc.), as if by placing in the scales.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, 63, in Lamb. Hom., 163. Þer me scal ure werkes weien biforan þe heuen king.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. I. 152. Þe same Mesure þat ȝe Meten A-mis oþer elles, Ȝe schul be weyen þer-with whon ȝe wenden hennes.
1382. Wyclif, Job vi. 2. Wolde God, my synnes weren weȝed … in a balaunce.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, III. 129. Þou art i-weye on a balaunce and i-founde þat þou hast lasse [Dan. v. 27].
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 29 b. Our sayd lorde … at the houre of our iudgement shall ponder and wey euery mannes encrease or decrease.
1549. Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion. Not waiyng our merites, but pardonyng our offences.
1557. North, trans. Gueuara’s Diall Pr., Prol. A i. God doth not way us as we are, but as we desier to be.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. iv. 27. Accursed vsurie was all his trade, And right and wrong ylike in equall ballaunce waide.
1670. Dryden, 1st Pt. Conq. Granada, III. (1672), 22. Friendship … weighs by th’ lump, and, when the cause is light, Puts kindness in to set the Ballance right.
1736. Berkeley, Discourse, Wks. III. 419. Were all men to be weighed in the exact scale of merit.
1744. M. Bishop, Life, 97. Where such a cross-grain’d Piece of Stuff is concerned … one should ponder with inward Consultations, to be able to weigh him to a Hair.
1781. Cowper, Hope, 366. That heav’n will weigh man’s virtues and his crimes With nice attention, in a righteous scale.
1815. Byron, Hebrew Mel., Vis. Belshazzar, vi. He, in the balance weigh’d, Is light and worthless clay.
1872. Blackie, Lays Highl., 134. God numbers not the heads, but weighs the hearts Of them that worship.
1897. ‘Ouida,’ Massarenes, xxii. [She] had mentally weighed him, and found him wanting.
b. To balance with or against (another object regarded as a counterpoise) in order to a comparative estimate. Also to weigh together.
1513. More, Rich. III., Wks. 47/1. Waye the good that they dooe, with the hurte that commeth of them.
1549. Bk. Com. Prayer, Pref. If those men will waye their labor, with the profite in knowlege, whiche dayely they shal obtein by readyng vpon the boke.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., I. ii. 101. But in that Christall scales, let there be waid Your Ladies loue against some other Maid.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. ii. 45. For by no meanes the false will with the truth be wayd.
1609. Dekker, Guls Horne-bk., i. heading, The old world & the new waighed together.
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. i. 8. Then wisely (good Sir) weigh Our sorrow with our comfort.
1647. Cowley, Mistress, Love undiscovered, ii. Forbid it Heaven my Life should be Weigh’d with her least Conveniency.
1781. Cowper, Hope, 178. The fragrant grove, th’ inestimable mine, Were light when weigh’d against one smile of thine.
1823. Lamb, Elia, Ser. II. Tombs in Abbey. While we had been weighing anxiously prudence against sentiment.
1829. Napier, Penins. War, II. 265. He anxiously weighed his own resources against those at the enemy’s disposal.
1868. Helps, Realmah, VI. x. (1876), 112. But of what weight was any mere earthly consideration of that kind when weighed against the danger of impiety?
1917. Q. Rev., Jan., 16. They held their lives to be of little price when weighed against a nation’s fidelity to its engagements.
c. To make equal, balance (the year; i.e., to make night and day of equal length). poet.
Cf. Columella x. 42 Cum … paribus Titan orbem librauerit horis.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 419. Now sing we stormy Stars, when Autumn weighs The Year, and adds to Nights, and shortens Days.
1720. Pope, Iliad, XXII. 39. The Year when Autumn weighs.
12. To consider (a fact, circumstance, statement, etc.) in order to assess its value or importance; to ponder, estimate, examine, take due account of; to balance in the mind with a view to choice or preference.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 323. Ȝif we weyn aryht dispensis bi lore of þe hooly goost.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 384 (398). And weyen every thyng by equite.
14[?]. Lydg., Horse, Goose & Sheep, 150, in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903), 21. Ye prudent Iugis … Weieth this mater in your discrecioun.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Gov. Princis (S.T.S.), 147. Cast all thair counsailis ilkane till othir in thy mynde, and wey thame as thou thinkis the caus requeris.
1533. Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.), II. 300. They wayeing in thaire myndes the force of the saide acte.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 266 b. He desyreth them … that they would way the whole case diligently.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. ix. 20. She, now weighing the decayed plight And shrunken synewes of her chosen knight.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., II. iv. 197. I weigh’d the danger which my Realmes stood in By this my Issues faile.
1653. W. Ramesey, Astrol. Restored, 181. If thou hast seriously weighed the foregoing rules.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, XII. 70. Weigh in your Mind the various Chance of War.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 43, ¶ 2. I have well weighed that Matter.
1742. Fielding, J. Andrews, III. iii. I weighed the consequences on both sides as fairly as I could.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, III. i. I have been likewise weighing and balancing what you were pleased to mention concerning duty.
1847. Yeowell, Anc. Brit. Ch., iii. 34. Let any thinking man weigh this singular circumstance.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 39. The jurymen,… being little accustomed to weigh evidence, followed without scruple the directions of the bench.
1855. Poultry Chron., III. 32. They never came to a decision without duly weighing the pros and cons.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, xx. The difficulty of the moment was too pressing for him to weigh distant consequences.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., III. II. 390. The king is wise; his wrath will well be weighed.
absol. 1796. Wordsw., Borderers, II. 645. Men who are little given to sift and weigh.
b. To ponder and examine the force of (words or expressions). To weigh one’s words: to speak deliberately and in calculated terms.
1340. Ayenb., 255. Huo þet ne weȝþ his wordes ine þe waye of discrecion. Ibid., 256. Huer me ssel weȝe þet word er hit be yzed.
1576. Gascoigne, Steel Glas, 215. Words of worth, and worthy to be wayed.
1579. Lodge, Def. Plays, 16. If we way Poetes wordes and not ther meaning, our learning in them wilbe very mene.
a. 1584. Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, 1164. Then Hope replyd,… And wyselie weyd his words.
a. 1631. Donne, Lett. (1651), 309. The old King thought the preacher never had thought of his sermon, till he spoke it…. I knew that he had weighed every syllable, for halfe a year before.
1655. in Verney Mem. (1907), II. 14. I must … weigh my words before they are sent abroad.
1725. Pope, Odyss., XIII. 62. His words well-weigh’d, the gen’ral voice approv’d.
1846. J. Martineau, Ess. (1869), II. 64. The moralist … has far other work than to weigh expressions and analyze definitions.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxii. Mr. Carker read this slowly; weighing the words as he went.
1877. Huxley, Techn. Educ. Sci. & Cult. (1881), 82. I weigh my words when I say that if the nation could purchase a potential Watt, or Davy, or Faraday, at the cost of a hundred thousand pounds down, he would be dirt-cheap at the money.
c. with object-clause. Now rare.
Often to weigh by, with, within oneself.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 152. Ponderynge and weyenge also that of all vertues mercy is moost necessaryly requyred to this myserable worlde.
1549. E. Allen, Jude’s Par. Rev. xi. 16. Whether any suche thynge … maye hereafter happen, let euery true christen harte … well consyder and wey by himselfe.
1553. Brende, Q. Curtius, v. 81. They wayed also that both the sauegard of them, and of the king lay in the handes of one that was a prisoner.
1553. in Strype, Eccl. Mem. (1721), III. App. XI. 30. I beseech yow … waye wyth your self, what a good Master our hevenlye Father ys unto yow.
1573. Bedingfield, trans. Cardanus’ Comf., II. (1576), 18 b. If they would waye wyth themselues, that all men … haue the vse of reason.
1578. Whetstone, 2nd Pt. Promos & Cass., V. v. M 1. Good Maddame way, by lawe, your Lord doth dye.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., cxx. 8. And I a tyrant haue no leasure taken To waigh how once I suffered in your crime.
1621. T. Williamson, trans. Goulart’s Wise Vieillard, A 2 b. Well weighing with my selfe, that it was a Work might yeeld some profit to my Countrie men of England.
1675. Dryden, Aurengz., V. (1676), 80. You thought me dead, and prudently did weigh Tears were but vain.
1683. Pennsylv. Arch. (1852), I. 75. We ye free People of ye Town … of Salem … weighing well in ourselves yt nothing can more readily conduce to our … Happiness, then a fair and just settlement of our Foundations [etc.].
1803. Eldon, in Vesey, Chanc. Cases (1827), VIII. 427. The Court ought to weigh, whether the doubt is so reasonable and fair, that the property is left in his hands not marketable.
1825. Scott, Talism., iii. He weighed within himself, whether [etc.].
1841. Myers, Cath. Th., III. § 42. 161. Let any one weigh well what it is to translate such a collection of documents as constitute the Bible.
d. To weigh up: to appraise, form an estimate of (a person). colloq.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 15 Feb., 5/1. The Liberal delegates were fervid only when ‘weighing-up’ the House of Peers and insisting upon its disestablishment.
1897. ‘O. Rhoscomyl,’ White Rose Arno, 43. I will watch him closer for the future. I should have come up earlier now, but that I was weighing up his servant, an arrant Whig and a spy to boot.
1904. Daily Chron., 14 Jan., 7. ‘I knew too much about her,’ she said. ‘I had weighed her up.’
† 13. To esteem, value, think highly of; to count dear or precious; to ascribe value or importance to. Often with negative: (Not) to care for or regard. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 336. Kunde of gode heorte is to beon offeared of sunne, þer as non nis ofte; oðer weien swuðer his sunne summechere þen he þurfte. Weien hit to lutel is ase vuel, oðer wurse.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 923. That lord hath litel of discrecion, That in swich cas kan no diuision, But weyeth pride and humblesse after oon.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., III. x. 335. Whi therfore schulen we ouer miche weie and apprise his seiyng?
1496–7. Act 12 Hen. VII., c. 12, Preamble, The same Kyng…, not fearyng Almyghty God in breking his seid promys nor weiyng his Honour in the same.
1567. Harman, Caveat, 64. Take no care for that, for I doe not greatly waye it; it was worth but three shyllinges foure pens.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., June, 73. Nought weigh I, who my song doth prayse or blame.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 27. You waigh me not, O that’s you care not for me.
1592. Daniel, Compl. Rosamond, xxiii. Henry the second, that so highly weigh’d mee.
1595–7. Lyly, Wom. in Moon, III. ii. 289. I, he wayes more his flocke then me.
1633. Massinger, New Way, III. iii. My deeds, nephew, Shall speake my loue, what men report, I waigh not.
1676. Sir W. Temple, in Essex Papers (Camden), II. 81. The Estates would bee enough inclinable to it as weighing interest more than honour.
1681. W. Robertson, Phraseol. Gen., 1306/2. I do not weigh you a pin … Non ego te flocci facio.
† b. with adj. compl. (light, dear, etc.). Obs.
c. 1586. C’tess Pembroke, Ps. CXVI. v. Thy people all beholding, Who dear their deaths dost weigh.
1592. Arden of Feversham, I. i. 361. To let them see how light I wey their words.
a. 1599. Spenser, F. Q., VII. vi. 55. Them all, and all that she so deare did way, Thence-forth she left.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., II. iv. 43. In cases of defence, ’tis best to weigh The Enemie more mightie then he seemes. Ibid. (1601), All’s Well, III. iv. 32. Let euerie word waigh heauie of her worth, That he does waigh too light.
† 14. intr. a. To pay heed or deference to. Sc.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., cxx. Myn effectis grete, Vnto the quhich ȝe aughten maist weye.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 157. Suppos thai have na soverane to quham thai wey, bot anerly God allane.
† b. with of: To ponder, consider (something); to judge of, estimate, value, care for. Obs.
1573. New Custom, D iij b. God waieth not … Of any vesture, or outward apparance a mite.
1577. Hanmer, Anc. Eccl. Hist., Euseb., V. v. 82. But weye of this euery man as pleaseth him.
1584. Lodge, Forbonius & Prisc., 35. Solduvius, not … willing to weigh of the submissiue request of his daughter, interrupted her thus.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., VI. vii. 29. Vnworthy she to be belou’d so dere, That could not weigh of worthinesse aright.
† c. with negative: (Not) to hesitate to (do something). Obs.
1573. L. Lloid, Pilgr. Princes, 14. The women of Scithia called Amazones … wayed not to encounter with Hercules in the fielde.
III. To have heaviness or weight.
15. intr. Of a material object or substance: To have a greater or less degree of heaviness, as measured by the scales. a. To be equal to or balance (a specified weight) in the scales.
The specifying word is to be regarded as a predicative complement rather than as governed by the verb.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., III. 92. Se sester sceal weʓan twa pund be sylfyr ʓewyht.
a. 1023. Wulfstan, Hom., xlv. (1883), 228. Ælc an haʓelstan weʓeð fif pund.
13[?]. Sir Beues, 1424. A dede Beues binde to a ston gret, þat weȝ seue quarters of whet.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 454. Hir couerchiefs … I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound, That on a sonday weren vpon hir heed.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, III. 207. Oon of the hameres weiede tweie so moche as anoþer.
1474. Caxton, Chesse, III. iv. (1883), 111. One framosian had promysed to hym as moche weyght of pure gold as the heed weyed.
1529. Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. (1883), 177. Ane silver spune and a masar veand 3 uncis.
1553. Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 34. The fleshe therof wayed .xlvij. pound weyght.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., IV. i. 28. Here’s the note How much your Chaine weighs to the vtmost charect.
1655. Marq. Worcester, Cent. Inv., § 69. A little … Key, not weighing a Shilling.
1675. R. Vaughan, Coin & Coinage, 75. They’d have it … so as the pieces of Silver and Gold should weigh one the other.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist., IV. 44. Some of them [sc. marmots] are found to weigh above twenty pounds.
1838. T. Thomson, Chem. Org. Bodies, 891. The gum weighed 3 per cent of the almonds analyzed.
1856. J. Richardson, Recoll., I. vi. 145. In person he was tall and corpulent, weighing something over twenty stone.
b. with adv. or pred. adj.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 232. Hwon two bereð one burðene ant te oðer bileaueð hit, þeonne mei þe þet holdeð hit up iuelen hu hit weihð.
c. 1290. St. Michael, 395, in S. Eng. Leg., 311. Heouene geth al aboute þe eorþe, euene it mot weyȝe.
a. 1300. Vox & Wolf, 237, in Hazl., E. P. P., I. 66. He lep in [the bucket], and way sumdel.
13[?]. St. Cristofer, 364, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1881), 458. The childe swa heuy woghe Þat ofte-sythes one knees he hym droghe.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 1788 (Fairfax). And as she woke, hir bed she felt presse. What best ys that, quod she, that weyeth thus?
c. 1440. York Myst., xxx. 136. A! sir, yhe whe wele!
a. 1475. Macro Plays, Mankind, 692. Ther ys to moche cloth, yt weys as ony lede.
1481. Caxton, Godfrey, cxxxviii. 205. They … becam stronge, and delyuer in suche wyse that the armes that they bare weyed nothyng as them semed.
1581. A. Hall, Iliad, X. 174. His shield that waightie waied.
1586. Whitney, Choice Emblems, 41. The heauie loade, did weye so harde behinde.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., IV. xv. 32. Heere’s sport indeede: How heauy weighes my Lord?
1779. Cowper, Yearly Distress, 48. Like barrels with their bellies full, They only weigh the heavier.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., x. His fingers fumbled as if … the other [sc. his beaver] had weighed equal with a stone of lead.
16. fig. (with more or less retention of the literal idea or expression).
a. 1225. Ancr. R. 332. Misericordia superexaltat judicium [Jas. ii. 13]:… his merci touward us weieð euer more þen þet rihte nearuwe.
1340. Ayenb., 91. Loue is þe wyȝte ine þe balance … uor non oþer þing ne may weȝe, huanne me comþ to nime ech his ssepe, bote loue and charite.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Monk’s T., 243. Thy regne is doon, thou weyest noght at al.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 275. Ther ben manye of these Lovers, that thogh thei love a lyte, That scarsly wolde it weie a myte Yit wolde thei have a pound again, As doth Usure in his bargain.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 4. Ȝe weyin now in mennys hertys, in dreed of ȝoure myȝt, more þan all þe world, for all þe world dare noȝt wythstonde ȝou.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., xlv. 177. For synne is not lyȝt, but it is hevy, and weythe more than lede.
1595. Shaks., John, II. i. 332. One must proue greatest. While they weigh so euen, We hold our Towne for neither: yet for both. Ibid. (1599), Much Ado, V. i. 93. I know them, yea And what they weigh, euen to the vtmost scruple, Scambling, out-facing, fashion-monging boyes. Ibid. (1601), All’s Well, III. iv. 31. Let euerie word waigh heauie of her worth.
† b. To amount or be equivalent to. Obs.
1529. More, Dyaloge, IV. xi. 108 b/2. Yt gaue hym occasyon to dowt lest Luther ment not al thing so euyl as his wordys seme to way to.
1588. Lambarde, Eiren., II. iv. (ed. 3), 152. Whether a man doe actually vse force in his entrie, or doe come so readily appointed and araied for it,… it seemeth to weigh to a violent (or Forcible) entrie.
† c. To weigh with (also even with): to counterpoise in power, value, etc.; to be of equal value or importance with. Obs.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. ii. 196. In euery thing, the purpose must weigh with the folly. Ibid. (1607), Timon, I. i. 146. Giue him thy Daughter, What you bestow, in him Ile counterpoize, And make him weigh with her.
1656. Earl Monm., trans. Boccalini’s Advts. fr. Parnass., I. iii. (1674), 4. France may vie and weigh even with Greece it self, in point of Learning.
d. To weigh against, † again: to counterbalance, countervail.
c. 1410. [see 20].
1590. Greene, Never too late, II. (1600), K 4 b. Hee that seeketh to way against his owne will, oftentimes kicketh against the prick.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., I. iii. 55. Much more, in this great worke … should we … know our owne estate, How able such a Worke to vndergo, To weigh against his Opposite?
1833. Ht. Martineau, Manch. Strike, iv. 47. Such evils … can neither be helped nor be allowed to weigh against the advantages of union.
1884. Gilmour, Mongols, xviii. 216. He believes that every sin will weigh against him, and drag him down in the scale of being.
e. quasi-trans. To equal (something else) in weight or value; to counterbalance; † to be tantamount or equivalent to.
1583. Greene, Mamillia, I. 6 b. So that eyther thou couldest sooth her with a frumpe, or els lay a loading carde on her backe, should wey a scoffe.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 26. Indeed I waigh not you, and therefore light. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., I. i. 11. What foure Thron’d ones could haue weigh’d Such a compounded one? Ibid., III. ii. 259. The heads of all thy Brother-Cardinals … Weigh’d not a haire of his.
1893. Westm. Gaz., 21 March, 3/2. There are difficulties … in the poem. Only they do not weigh the enormous difficulty of a multiplicity of Homers.
† f. absol. or two things: To balance each other. Obs.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss. (1812), I. xliii. 59. So that finally the good and the yuell wayed.
17. intr. To be of (much or little) value or account; to be regarded as considerable or important; to have influence with (a person) when he is forming an estimate or judgment.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Parson’s T., ¶ 367 (Hengwrt MS.). Dedly synne, whan the loue of any thyng weyeth in the herte of man as muche as the loue of god or moore.
1535. W. Stewart, Cron. (Rolls), III. 313. And his command with him richt litill weyit.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lxv. § 5. Why things so light in their owne nature should waigh in the opinions of men so much.
1659. Nicholas Papers (Camden), IV. 179. Younge Darby [6th Earl], whoe nowe weighes much less then his name formerly hath donn.
1670. Milton, Hist. Brit., III. 107. Pleasing to God, or not pleasing, with them weighed alike; and the worse most an end the weightier.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 6 Dec. 1680. In truth, their testimonie did little weigh with me.
1705. Atterbury, Serm. bef. Queen, 28 Oct., 22. A Wise Man is then best satisfy’d … when he finds … that the same Argument, which weighs with Him, hath weigh’d with Thousands … before him.
1744. Kames, Decis. Crt. Sess., 1730–52 (1799), 79. Nor ought it to weigh that Murray run the hazard of his factor’s bankruptcy.
1838. Macaulay, Lett. to Napier, in Trevelyan, Life (1876), II. vii. 12. There is another consideration that weighs much with me.
a. 1853. Robertson, Lect. (1858), ii. 51. I have not the vanity to say … that my name had weight with many; but it did weigh with some.
1870. Lowell, Among my Bks., Rousseau, 338. Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.
1899. Conan Doyle, Duet, xiv. 199. Holland is a sound man, and his opinion would weigh with any judge.
1910. Beet, Rise of Papacy, ii. 79. The Roman verdict weighed much throughout Christendom.
IV. To affect, or be affected, by weight.
18. trans. To weigh down: to draw, force or bend down by pressure of weight; fig. to depress, oppress, lie heavy on. Similarly, to weigh back, † on one side, to the earth.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, vii. 17. He … likyd to be seruaunte of syn, swa þat his synn weghe him down, þat he neuer rise til þe rist of heuen.
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Degrauo, The vine lodeth and weigheth downe the elme.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Feb., 232. The watrie wette weighed downe his head.
1595. Daniel, Civ. Wars, IV. lxxvi. O could the mighty but giue bounds to pride And weigh backe fortune ere shee pull them downe.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., III. i. 7. O gentle Sleepe … how haue I frighted thee, That thou no more wilt weigh my eye-lids downe…?
1598. Grenewey, Tacitus, Ann., XIV. ii. 201. Then the rowers thought best to way the gallie on one side [L. unum in latus inclinare], and so to sincke her.
1611. Bible, Wisd., ix. 15. The corruptible body presseth down the soule, and the earthy tabernacle weigheth downe the minde that museth vpon many things.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 494, ¶ 4. There are many excellent Persons, who are weighed down by this habitual Sorrow of Heart.
1783. Cowper, The Rose, 4. The plentiful moisture incumber’d the flower, And weigh’d down its beautiful head.
1857. Buckle, Civiliz., I. xi. 625. The people were weighed down by an insufferable taxation.
1858. A. W. Drayson, Sporting Scenes S. Africa, 208. The Kaffirs returned, almost weighed down by the immense weight of meat.
1865. Swinburne, Atalanta, 1303. Falling and weighed back by clamorous arms Sharp rang the dead limbs of Eurytion.
1879. M. Pattison, Milton, xiii. 215. Causes other than the inherent faults of the poem long continued to weigh down the reputation of Paradise Lost.
1884. W. S. Lilly, in Contemp. Rev., Feb., 252. What, then, was the consuetudo carnalis which thus weighed to the earth this soul of fire, striving to ascend to its true home: even to Him who is igneus fons animarum?
† b. Without adv.: To depress, dispirit. Obs. rare.
1633. Fletcher & Shirley, Night-Walker, I. (1640), B 3. You are light Gentlemen, Nothing to weigh your hearts.
† 19. intr. a. Of the scale of a balance (with up or down): To rise or sink according as it holds the lesser or greater weight. Also gen. (with down): To sink through its own heaviness or load. Obs.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxii. (Laurence), 750. A gret pot … in þat balance has he done; þane ourys veyt vpe tycht [read rycht] sone.
1566[?]. W. P., trans. Curio’s Pasquin in Trance, 65. That Deuill … doth all that he can to make his parte [of the balance] way downe the heauier.
a. 1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 610. The Cause is the plenty of the Sap, and the Softnesse of the Stalke, which maketh the Bough, being ouer-loaden, and not stiffely vpheld, weigh downe.
† b. To weigh with: to move with, follow the motion of (something that shifts or varies). To weigh against: to strive to make head against (the wind). Obs.
1553. Brende, Q. Curtius, IV. 34 b. Waying with the worlde, according as the tyme should alter [semper ex ancipiti mutatione temporum pendens].
a. 1557. Mary Basset, trans. More’s Treat. Pass., M’s Wks. 1372/1. A fainte harted mayster of a shippe … shrinketh from the sterne, and … suffreth the ship alone to waye wyth the waues [puppim permittit fluctibus].
1557. Tottel’s Misc. (Arb.), 263. And where thou sekes a quiet port, Thou dost but weigh agaynst the winde.
20. trans. Of an object set in the scales (with down, up, † out; also † to weigh to the beam): To turn the scale when weighed against (something else); to outweigh, cause to rise in the scale. Also to weigh down (the balance or scale). Often fig.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, IV. 7. At þe laste þe stoon was leide in a balaunce, and he weieþ [MSS. α, β, γ, weygh, weyȝ, wayȝ] up al þat me myȝte leie aȝenst hym in þe oþer side.
c. 1410. Hoccleve, Mother of God, 21. Helpe me to weye Ageyn the feend, þat with his handes tweye, And his might, plukke wole at the balance To weye vs doun.
c. 1450. Knt. de la Tour, 66. Her … euell dedes … weyed downe and ouercame her good dedes.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 221. When alle his synnys wern layde on þe balans and was nygh ouercomyn, then come thylke brennet dekon, and layde a grete pote on þe wey þe whech anon weyit vp al togedyr.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., III. iv. 89. But in the Ballance of great Bullingbrooke, Besides himselfe, are all the English Peeres, And with that oddes he weighes King Richard downe.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., IV. ix. 1. Hard is the doubt, and difficult to deeme, When all three kinds of loue together meet, And doe dispart the hart with powre extreme, Whether shall weigh the balance downe. Ibid., V. ii. 46. Yet all the wrongs could not a litle right downe way.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, II. iii. 162. We poizing vs in her defectiue scale, Shall weigh thee to the beame. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., III. i. 88. My Friends, They that must weigh out my afflictions.
1706. E. Ward, Wooden World Diss. (1708), 14. Four Ounces of Vigo Dust, shall weigh him down more, than four Tun of Honesty.
1711. Swift, Examiner, No. 26. One Whig shall weigh down ten Tories.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, vii. Where all other inducements were wanting, the habitual carelessness of his disposition stepped in and still weighed down the scale on the same side.
1902. Westm. Gaz., 27 March, 7/3. Whose mistakes … are a thousand times weighed up by his countless individual deeds of true friendship.
† 21. trans. To sway or influence (a person); to induce (a person) to (do something). Obs.
1571. Campion, Hist. Irel., 121. When these wordes waighed him nothing, his owne man … began to reprove him for not relenting to so rich a proffer.
1586. J. Hooker, Hist. Irel., in Holinshed, II. 83/2. By the procurement as well of the archbishop as of all the cleargie [the legate] was weighed to giue the citizens absolution.
22. intr. with on or upon. a. Of a thought, feeling, circumstance: To lie heavy on, depress (a person, his spirits, etc.). Also in indirect passive.
1775. Sheridan, Duenna, II. iv. If either of you had known how each moment of delay weighs upon the heart of her who loves.
1820. Keats, Lamia, II. 43. Where am I now? Not in your heart while care weighs on your brow.
1832. Tennyson, Lotos-Eaters, 57. Why are we weigh’d upon with heaviness?
1838. Lytton, Alice, II. ii. Something seemed to weigh upon her spirits.
1858. Mrs. Carlyle, Lett., II. 387. This London atmosphere weighs on me.
1863. Mary Howitt, trans. F. Bremer’s Greece, II. xii. 47. The sceptre of despotism weighs oppressively on all free public life.
1909. J. L. Allen, Bride of Mistletoe, v. 147. The silence began to weigh upon her.
b. To insist or dwell upon (a fact, argument, etc.). rare.
1817. H. T. Colebrooke, Algebra, etc., Notes & Illustr. p. xlii. These facts will be further weighed upon as we proceed. Ibid. (1818), Import Colonial Corn, 70. Without weighing upon this surmise.
23. The vb.-stem in combination: weigh-balk north. and Sc., the beam of a pair of scales or steelyard; pl. scales; weigh-bar = weigh-shaft; weigh-beam, a balance or steelyard; weigh-brods pl. Sc., boards used for the scales of a large balance; † weigh-gilt Sc., a payment for weighing (after Du. waaggeld, G. wage-, wägegeld); † weigh-leaf, a board or plate used as a scale; weigh-lock U.S., a canal-lock at which barges are weighed and their tonnage is settled; weighman, a man employed to weigh goods, etc.; in a colliery, one who weighs the tubs of coal as they leave the cage at the pit-mouth (for check-weighman see CHECK-); weigh-master (cf. G. wagemeister, Du. waagmeester), the official in charge of a weigh-house or public scales; weigh-out, the verification of a jockey’s declared weight before a race (see 9); weigh-shaft = ROCK-SHAFT. Also WEIGH-BRIDGE, -HOUSE, -SCALE.
1485. Inv., in Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees), 371. j *weybalke cum skales.
1593–4. Burgh Rec. Stirling (1889), II. 380. Quhatsumever parson … in tym cuming borrow the use of thair wey balk to wey irone or wther geir.
1608. in Cochran-Patrick, Early Rec. Mining Scot. (1878), 150. Ane grit weybak with the balance brodis thereto for weying the ore.
1824. Scott, Redgauntlet, ch. xxiii. To see a’ ane’s warldly substance capering in the air in a pair of weigh-bauks, now up, now down.
1841. Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., IV. 93/1. A lever is fixed upon the cross-head working in a link connected to a second lever fixed on a shaft or *weigh-bar across the engine, whereby a rocking motion is produced.
1890. W. J. Gordon, Foundry, 16. Beam-engine with its weigh-bar gearing.
1492. in Wadley, Notes Wills Bristol (1886), 178. My *weybernes [? read -bemes] with all my weights of lede.
1804. Local Act 44 Geo. III., c. lv. § 1. To … erect and set up … Weighbeams, Cranes.
1833. N. Arnott, Physics (ed. 5), II. 11. If we balance a quantity of ice in a delicate weigh-beam.
1578. Inv. R. Wardrobe (1815), 255. Ane pair of *wey broddis garnist with yron for weying of mettall with thair towis.
1497. Halyburton, Ledger (1867), 74. Hous hir, 12, *veygylt, 4 g. Ibid. (1498), 213. Item veygilt, ilk sek 4.
1593. in Archaeologia (1853), XXXV. 436. For mending John Newarke’s *way leaffe, broken in wayinge of lead, iij d.
1835. Lieber, Stranger in Amer., II. 140. The object of the greatest interest to me, in Utica, was a *weigh-lock—an American invention if I am not mistaken. The toll for freight on the canal is proportionate to weight.
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, Weighman. See Weigher.
1907. [see WEIGH-HOUSE].
1917. Blackw. Mag., April, 630/1. The bigger fish were weighed on an ingenious balance, consisting of a long steel rod with a sliding weight, the whole suspended on a bit of string held aloft by the weighman.
1617. in Heath, Grocers’ Comp. (1869), 428. The *Weymaster and his porters, which attended at the Guildhall.
1689. Ravenhill, Acc. Comp. Grocers, 4. The Grocers … may be well presumed (time out of Mind) to have had the management of the King’s Beam, as an Office peculiar to them;… they having had all along … the naming of the Weigh-Master, and the naming, placing, removing and governing of the four Porters, attending that Office, all to be elected out of their own Company.
1886. Racing (Badm. Libr.), 67. It was, indeed, this absolute certainty as to the accuracy of the *weigh-out, which led to the detection of the attempted fraud when Catch-em-alive won the Cambridgeshire.
1867–72. N. P. Burgh, Mod. Marine Engin., 73. Motion is imparted to the lever *weigh shaft by a toothed quadrant keyed thereon.
1888. Lockwood’s Dict. Terms, 407. Weigh Shaft or Way Shaft.—… Sometimes called a reversing shaft.
