Weigh \Weigh\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Weighed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Weighing.]
[OE. weien, weyen, weghen, AS. wegan to bear,
move; akin to D. wegen to weigh, G. w["a]gen, wiegen, to
weigh, bewegen to move, OHG. wegan, Icel. vega to move,
carry, lift, weigh, Sw. v["a]ga to weigh, Dan. veie, Goth.
gawigan to shake, L. vehere to carry, Skr. vah. ????. See
Way, and cf. Wey.]
1. To bear up; to raise; to lift into the air; to swing up;
as, to weigh anchor. ``Weigh the vessel up.'' --Cowper.
2. To examine by the balance; to ascertain the weight of,
that is, the force with which a thing tends to the center
of the earth; to determine the heaviness, or quantity of
matter of; as, to weigh sugar; to weigh gold.
Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found
wanting. --Dan. v. 27.
3. To be equivalent to in weight; to counterbalance; to have
the heaviness of. ``A body weighing divers ounces.''
--Boyle.
4. To pay, allot, take, or give by weight.
They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
--Zech. xi.
12.
5. To examine or test as if by the balance; to ponder in the
mind; to consider or examine for the purpose of forming an
opinion or coming to a conclusion; to estimate
deliberately and maturely; to balance.
A young man not weighed in state affairs. --Bacon.
Had no better weighed The strength he was to cope
with, or his own. --Milton.
Regard not who it is which speaketh, but weigh only
what is spoken. --Hooker.
In nice balance, truth with gold she weighs. --Pope.
Without sufficiently weighing his expressions. --Sir
W. Scott.
6. To consider as worthy of notice; to regard. [Obs. or
Archaic] ``I weigh not you.'' --Shak.
All that she so dear did weigh. --Spenser.
To weigh down.
(a) To overbalance.
(b) To oppress with weight; to overburden; to depress.
``To weigh thy spirits down.'' --Milton.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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