turn the scale
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Weightless, they turn the scale when the argument is: What happened here?
From Time ● Nov. 29, 2
I must not think too much of this, or I may be tempted; a good cause might turn the scale with me, for may not I too be of an exceptional brain, congenitally?
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
The train was behind time,—a trifling matter in itself, but, in our situation, each minute might turn the scale between death and life.
From Capturing a Locomotive A History of Secrect Service in the Late War. by Pittenger, William
He will hesitate, that I know; still I hope that my letters will turn the scale, for there is a reason why he must care greatly for my good will.
From The Deluge, Vol. I. (of 2) An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. by Sienkiewicz, Henryk
For this is a situation which will ripen almost without assistance, resembling as it does a balance already trembling, in which the addition of a single hair will turn the scale.
From A Syrup of the Bees by Anonymous
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
