middleweight

[ mid-l-weyt ]

/ ˈmɪd lˌweɪt /

noun

a boxer or other contestant intermediate in weight between a welterweight and a light heavyweight, especially a professional boxer weighing up to 160 pounds (72.5 kg).

adjective

Boxing. of or relating to middleweights: the middleweight division.

(of a horse, especially a hunter) able to carry up to 185 pounds (83.9 kg).

Nearby words

middlesex, middleton, middletone, middletown, middleware, middleweight, middling, middlings, middx, middy, middy blouse

Origin of middleweight

First recorded in 1870–75; middle + weight

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for middleweight

And he knocked out the second middleweight, and the third middleweight.
Famous Flyers|David Goodger (goodger@python.org)
So the coach, seeing that he had struck gold, entered Jimmie in the match with Stanford, but in the middleweight class.
Famous Flyers|David Goodger (goodger@python.org)
The middleweight thought that it was a joke on him, and was careful not to hit hard.
Famous Flyers|David Goodger (goodger@python.org)
But one day down in the gymnasium, the boxing coach put him in the ring with a middleweight for some practice.
Famous Flyers|David Goodger (goodger@python.org)

He looked like Pollyanna, after eight or ten shots at the middleweight title.
Occasion for Disaster|Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for middleweight

middleweight

/ (ˈmɪdəlˌweɪt) /

noun

a professional boxer weighing 154–160 pounds (70–72.5 kg)
an amateur boxer weighing 71–75 kg (157–165 pounds)
(as modifier)a middleweight contest

a wrestler in a similar weight category (usually 172–192 pounds (78–87 kg))

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012