Meaning & use
weight
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Meanings
noununcountable
How heavy something is, found by measuring the pull of gravity on it.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: the weight of the box, not a weight.
Patterns
- the weight of something
- lose weight
- gain weight
The weight of the suitcase was over twenty kilograms.
He is trying to lose weight before the summer.
The bridge cannot support the weight of heavy trucks.
nouncountable
A heavy object used for exercise, balance or measuring.
Grammar: Countable in this sense: lift weights, a weight.
Patterns
- lift weights
- a set of weights
She lifts weights at the gym every morning.
He tied a weight to the line so it sank.
The scale uses a small weight to balance.
noununcountablefigurative
Importance or influence that makes people take something seriously.
Grammar: Often with carry or give: carry weight.
Patterns
- carry weight
- give weight to something
His opinion carries a lot of weight in the committee.
The judge gave little weight to the rumors.
Her words had weight because she had lived through it.
nounsingularfigurative
A heavy emotional or mental burden.
Grammar: Often the weight of something.
Patterns
- the weight of something
- a weight off your mind
Finishing the exam was a weight off her mind.
He felt the weight of responsibility.
The weight of grief made it hard to speak.
verbtransitive
To make something heavier or give it extra importance by adding something.
Grammar: Usually weight down or weight something: weight the net.
Patterns
- weight something down
- weight something with something
They weighted the tarp with bricks.
Divers weight their belts with lead.
The survey weights recent results more heavily.
Word forms
| plural | weights |
|---|---|
| third person singular | weights |
| past tense | weighted |
| past participle | weighted |
| -ing form | weighting |
Common combinations
- lose weight
- She joined a club to lose weight.
- gain weight
- The cat gained weight over winter.
- carry weight
- A teacher's advice can carry weight.
- body weight
- The dose depends on your body weight.
- pull your weight
- Everyone must pull their weight on the team.
- weight limit
- The weight limit on the lift is 600 kilograms.
Synonyms and how they differ
- heaviness
- Heaviness describes the feeling or quality of being heavy, whereas weight is the measurement.
- mass
- Mass is the amount of matter and does not change with gravity, while weight does.
- influence
- Influence is the power to affect others, close to the importance sense of weight but without the sense of seriousness.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: weight or wait? weight or mass?
weight vs wait
Wait means to stay until something happens and sounds the same as weight, so check the spelling.
weight vs mass
Mass and weight are different in science: mass stays constant, weight depends on gravity.
Practice
The doctor's opinion carried great ___ with the committee, so they accepted her advice.
Choose one answer.
Carry weight means to have influence. Wait sounds the same but means to stay in place.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “weight”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.