weigh¹ / wā/ • v. 1. [tr.] find out how heavy (someone or something) is, typically using scales: weigh yourself on the day you begin the diet the vendor weighed the vegetables. ∎  have a specified weight: when the twins were born, they weighed ten pounds. ∎  balance in the hands to guess or as if to guess the weight of: she picked up the brick and weighed it in her right hand. ∎  (weigh something out) measure and take from a larger quantity of a substance a portion of a particular weight: she weighed out two ounces of loose tobacco. ∎  [intr.] (weigh on) be depressing or burdensome to: his unhappiness would weigh on my mind so much.2. assess the nature or importance of, esp. with a view to a decision or action: the consequences of the move would need to be very carefully weighed. ∎  (weigh something against) compare the importance of one factor with that of (another): they need to weigh benefit against risk. ∎  [intr.] influence a decision or action; be considered important: the evidence weighed heavily against him.PHRASES: weigh anchorsee anchor.weigh one's words carefully choose the way one expresses something.PHRASAL VERBS: weigh someone down be heavy and cumbersome to someone: my waders and fishing gear weighed me down. ∎  be oppressive or burdensome to someone: she was weighed down by the responsibility of looking after her sisters.weigh in (chiefly of a boxer or jockey) be officially weighed before or after a contest: Mason weighed in at 203 lb.weigh in at inf. be of (a specified weight). ∎ inf. cost (a specified amount).weigh in with inf. make a forceful contribution to a competition or argument by means of: Baker weighed in with a three-pointer.weigh into inf. join in forcefully or enthusiastically: they weighed into the election campaign. ∎  attack physically or verbally: he weighed into the companies for their high costs.weigh out (of a jockey) be weighed before a race.DERIVATIVES: weigh·a·ble adj.weigh·er n.ORIGIN: Old English wegan, of Germanic origin; related to wagon and wain, and to Dutch wegen ‘weigh,’ German bewegen ‘move,’ from an Indo-European root shared by Latin vehere ‘convey.’ Early senses included ‘transport from one place to another’ and ‘raise up.’weigh² • n. (in phrase under weigh) Naut. another way of saying under way (see under).