noun

1. a portion or quantity weighing a definite or specified amount ten pounds weight of lead
2. 1. heaviness as a quality of things
   2. Physics the force of gravity acting on a body, equal to the mass of the body multiplied by the acceleration of gravity
3. 1. quantity or amount of heaviness; how much a thing weighs
   2. the amount a specified thing should weigh
4. 1. any unit of heaviness or mass
   2. any system of such units troy weight, avoirdupois weight
   3. a piece, as of metal, of a specific standard heaviness, used on a balance or scale in weighing
5. any block or mass of material used for its heaviness; specif.,
   1. one used to hold light things down or in position a paperweight
   2. one used to drive a mechanism the weights in a clock
   3. one used to maintain balance weights placed on an automobile wheel
   4. one of a particular heaviness, lifted as an athletic exercise
6. 1. any heavy thing or load
   2. a burden or oppressiveness, as of responsibility or sorrow
7. importance or consequence a matter of great weight
8. influence, power, or authority to throw one's weight to the losing side
9. the relative thickness or heaviness of a fabric or an article of clothing as proper to a particular season, use, etc. a suit of summer weight
10. Printing the relative thickness of the lines in type fonts
11. Sports
    1. any of the several classifications into which boxers and wrestlers are placed according to how much they weigh
    2. the number of pounds a horse is required to carry for a particular race, including the weight of the jockey, the saddle, and, often, added lead weights
12. Statistics a constant assigned to a single item in a frequency distribution, indicative of the item's relative importance

Etymology: ME weiht, altered (infl. by weien, weigh) < OE wiht < wegan: see weigh

transitive verb

1. to add weight to; make heavy or heavier
2. to burden; load down; oppress
3. to treat (thread or fabric) with a solution of metallic salts, in order to increase its weight
4. to manage, control, or influence in a particular direction or so as to favor a particular side; slant the evidence was weighted against the defendant
5. Statistics to assign a weight to in a frequency distribution