wey
Americannoun
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weys
plural
-
an old British unit of weight of various values, especially 16 stones of 16 pounds each, or 256 pounds.
-
an old Scotch-Irish unit of capacity equal to 40 U.S. bushels.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wey
before 900; Middle English; Old English wǣge weight. See weigh 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He’s recounting a moment that was inspired by jornalero lore, when decades ago, a group of day laborers protested a wage-stealing contractor by gathering outside of his house and singing, “Ese wey no paga.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2025
Comandante Hernandez dressed up as Death, complete with a skull mask and a sceptre while ese wey came dressed as a grave-digger with his eyes blacked out and carrying a spade.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2015
His partner in crime, Alex Marin y Kall, is better known as "ese wey", Mexican Spanish for "that bloke".
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2015
“Na for work wey they get me o.”
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“E get one guy wey they deport, him don come back get him paper. Na him wey go help me,” another said.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
And thei that duellen there and drynken often of that welle, thei nevere han sykenesse, and thei semen alle weys yonge.
From Curious Myths of the Middle Ages by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould
It was a treat in mair weys than ane.
From My Man Sandy by J. B. Salmond
And there besyde ben 4 pileres of ston, that alle weys droppen watre: and sum men seyn, that thei wepen for our Lordes dethe.
From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 08 Asia, Part I by Richard Hakluyt
Some men clepen it the Welle of Youthe: for thei that often drynken thereat, semen alle weys yongly, and lyven withouten sykenesse.
From Curious Myths of the Middle Ages by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould
"Juist you look efter your ain fokis, Bandy," says Sandy, gey peppery weys, "an' lat ither fowk's fokises aleen."
From My Man Sandy by J. B. Salmond
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
