weigh

¹ American  

[wey] / weɪ /

verb (used with object)

• weighs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• weighed,
  past participle,  past
• weighing
  present participle

1. to determine or ascertain the force that gravitation exerts upon (a person or thing) by use of a balance, scale, or other mechanical device.

   to weigh oneself; to weigh potatoes; to weigh gases.

2. to hold up or balance, as in the hand, in order to estimate the weight.

3. to measure, separate, or apportion (a certain quantity of something) according to weight (usually followed byout ).

   to weigh out five pounds of sugar.

4. to make heavy; increase the weight or bulk of; weight.

   We weighed the drapes to make them hang properly.

5. to evaluate in the mind; consider carefully in order to reach an opinion, decision, or choice.

   to weigh the facts; to weigh a proposal.

   Synonyms:

   contemplate, ponder

6. Archaic. to raise, lift, or hoist (something).

7. Obsolete. to think important; esteem.

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verb (used without object)

• weighs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• weighed,
  past participle,  past
• weighing
  present participle

1. to have weight or a specified amount of weight.

   to weigh less; to weigh a ton.

2. to have importance, moment, or consequence.

   Your recommendation weighs heavily in his favor.

3. to bear down as a weight or burden (usually followed by on orupon ).

   Responsibility weighed upon her.

4. to consider carefully or judicially.

   to weigh well before deciding.

5. (of a ship) to raise the anchor and get under way.

   The ship weighed early and escaped in the fog.

verb phrase

1. weigh down

   1. to cause to become bowed under a weight.

      snow and ice weighing down the trees.

   2. to lower the spirits of; burden; depress.

      This predicament weighs me down.

2. weigh in

   1. (of a boxer or wrestler) to be weighed by a medical examiner on the day of a bout.

   2. to be of the weight determined by such a weighing.

      He weighed in at 170 pounds.

   3. (of a jockey) to be weighed with the saddle and weights after a race.

   4. Informal. to offer an opinion, advice, support, etc., especially in a forceful or authoritative way.

      The chairman weighed in with an idea for the fundraiser.

3. weigh out (of a jockey)

   1. to be weighed with the saddle and weights before a race.

   2. to be of the weight determined by such a weighing.

idioms

1. weigh one's words. word.

2. weigh anchor, to heave up a ship's anchor in preparation for getting under way.

weigh ² American  

[wey] / weɪ /

idioms

1. under weigh, in motion; under way.

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weigh ¹ British  

/ weɪ /

verb

1. (tr) to measure the weight of

2. (intr) to have weight or be heavy

   she weighs more than her sister

3. to apportion according to weight

4. (tr) to consider carefully

   to weigh the facts of a case

5. (intr) to be influential

   his words weighed little with the jury

6. to be oppressive or burdensome (to)

7. obsolete to regard or esteem

8. to raise a vessel's anchor or (of a vessel) to have its anchor raised preparatory to departure

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weigh ² British  

/ weɪ /

noun

1. a variant spelling of under way

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Synonym Usage

See study.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• weigher
  noun
• unweighable
  adjective
• unweighing
  adjective
• weighable
  adjective
• well-weighed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• weighing
  present
• weighed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• weigh
  simple
• weighs
  simple
• have weighed
  perfect
• has weighed
  perfect
• am weighing
  progressive
• are weighing
  progressive
• is weighing
  progressive
• have been weighing
  perfect progressive
• has been weighing
  perfect progressive

Past

• weighed
  simple
• had weighed
  perfect
• was weighing
  progressive
• were weighing
  progressive
• had been weighing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will weigh
  simple
• will have weighed
  perfect
• will be weighing
  progressive
• will have been weighing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of weigh¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English weien, wein, weighen, Old English wegan “to carry, weigh”; cognate with Dutch wegen, German wägen, Old Norse vega; akin to Latin vehere “to carry, convey”

Origin of weigh²

First recorded in 1775–85; spelling variant of way ¹ by association with weigh anchor

Explanation

To weigh is all about judging; you could be seeing how heavy something is or if it is a good choice. You could weigh the tomatoes you're buying or weigh your options when applying to college. To weigh something can mean to physically assess its weight — is it 3 pounds? 40 kilos? 22 grams? But it's no accident that the symbol for justice is often a scale. That's because all of the facts of a case need to be weighed or evaluated for justice to be served. And hopefully the decision will be balanced and fair.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

weigh weighs weighed weighing

House races, California voters in November will also weigh in on a slew of ballot measures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

“The slowdown in population growth, brought on by tougher immigration curbs, also will increasingly weigh on demand,” he added.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

Worries about that, and also a lack of diplomatic progress between the U.S. and Iran, are likely to weigh on stock prices again, and rate-sensitive tech stocks in particular.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

He is fearless, and it doesn't look like the shirt or any expectation will weigh heavily on him.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

These chairs weigh a ton and it banged my shin something chronic but I acted like it was no sweat.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

Predictably, the outspoken sports pundit, who also weighs in with sharp takes on politics and popular culture, is not pleased with the assessment and is planning a fiery response: “Now y’all started something.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

A higher interest rate environment usually weighs on noninterest yielding assets such as the yellow metal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

This "weighs down the droplets," which "grow from a few micrometres to several millimetres: up to two or three. They fall, and it rains," explained Yarmohammed.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

That is more than 200 times heavier than the bee hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world, which weighs only 1.75 grams.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026

“My armor weighs far more than children,” he said.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

A previously announced $2.3 billion write-down of a potash project in Canada weighed on its bottom line.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

After staging a comeback recently, chip stocks stalled out on Tuesday as investors weighed economic developments as well as reports of new financial figures from a leading artificial-intelligence company.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

During surgery, doctors removed the bladder stone - it weighed as much as a full-term baby and was around the size of an ostrich egg.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Grief weighed heavily on them, and at the same time, the industry’s relentless criticism disillusioned them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Also to show how strong he was, to lift a suitcase that probably weighed more than he did.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

“There remains zero appetite in the U.S. for addressing the U.S. fiscal position and that is increasingly weighing on the long-end of the curve,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Egyed believes that many of her neighbors are weighing a similar choice.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

The government sent 50,000 aid packages weighing a total of 275 tonnes to the area, and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen offered help from the bloc's Copernicus Earth observation satellites.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

The bureau is weighing in now because the seven Western states that rely on the river couldn’t agree on a plan of their own.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Used chess books were everywhere, hidden in every conceivable crevice, many stacked from floor to ceiling or on top of chairs, or weighing down and bending the shelves.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• analyze
• balance
• estimate
• evaluate
• examine
• ponder