Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WEFT'AGE, n.

Texture. [Not used.] – Grew.

WEIGH, n.

A certain quantity. A weigh of wool, cheese, &c., is 256 pounds avoirdupois; a weigh of corn is forty bushels; of barley or malt, six quarters. – Encyc. Cyc.

WEIGH, v.i.

1. To have weight; as, to weigh lighter or heavier. – Brown.
2. To be considered as important; to have weight in the intellectual balance. This argument weighs with the considerate part of the community.
3. To bear heavily; to press hard. Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff, / Which weighs upon the heart. – Shak. To weigh down, to sink by its own weight.

WEIGH, v.t. [wa; Sax. wæg, weg, a balance; wægan, to weigh, to bear, to carry, L. veho; D. weegen, wikken; G. wögen; Sw. väga; Dan. vejer, to weigh; Russ. vaga, a balance; Amharic, አዋቂ, awaki, weight. See Wag.]

1. To examine by the balance; to ascertain the weight, that; is, the force with which a thing tends to the center of gravity; as, to weigh sugar; to weigh gold.
2. To be equivalent to in weight; that is, according to the Saxon sense of the verb, to lift to an equipoise a weight on the other side of the fulcrum. Thus when a body balances a weight of twenty-eight pounds avoirdupois, it lifts or bears it, and is said to weigh so much. It weighs a quarter of a hundred.
3. To raise; to lift; as an anchor from the ground, or any other body; as, to weigh anchor; to weigh an old hulk.
4. To pay, allot or take by weight. They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. – Zech. xi.
5. To ponder in the mind; to consider or examine for the purpose of forming an opinion or coming to a conclusion; as, to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a scheme. Regard not who it is which speaketh, but weigh only what is spoken. – Hooker.
6. To compare by the scales. Here in nice balance truth with gold she weighs. – Pope.
7. To regard; to consider as worthy of notice. I weigh not you. – Shak. To weigh down, to overbalance. #2. To oppress with weight; to depress.

WEIGH'A-BLE, a.

That may be weighed.

WEIGH'ED, pp.

1. Examined by the scales; having the weight ascertained.
2. Considered.
3. adj. Experienced; as, a young man not weighed in state affairs. [Not in use.] – Bacon.

WEIGH'ER, n.

1. One who weighs.
2. An officer whose duty is to weigh commodities.

WEIGH'ING, n.

1. The act of ascertaining weight.
2. As much as is weighed at once; as, a weighing of beef.

WEIGH'ING, ppr.

Examining by scales; considering.

WEIGH'ING-CAGE, n.

A cage in which small living animals may be conveniently weighed. – Cyc.

WEIGH'ING-HOUSE, n.

A building furnished with a dock and other conveniences for weighing commodities and ascertaining the tunnage of boats to be used on a canal. – Cyc.

WEIGH-ING-MA-CHINE, n.

1. A machine for weighing heavy bodies, and particularly wheel carriages, at turnpike gates. – Cyc. England.
2. A machine for weighing cattle.

WEIGHT, n. [wate; Sax. wiht; Sw. vigt; Ger. gewicht. See Weigh.]

1. The quantity of a body, ascertained by the balance; in a philosophical sense, that quality of bodies by which they tend toward the center of the earth in a line perpendicular to its surface. In short, weight is gravity, and the weight of a particular body is the amount of its gravity, or of the force with which it tends to the center. The weight of a body is in direct proportion to its quantity of matter. – Newton.
2. A mass of iron, lead, brass or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies; as, a weight of an ounce, a pound, a quarter of a hundred, &c. The weights of nations are different, except those of England and the United States, which are the same.
3. A ponderous mass; something heavy. A man leaps better with weights in his hands. – Bacon.
4. Pressure; burden; as, the weight of grief; weight of care; weight of business; weight of government.
5. Importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness; as, an argument of great weight; a consideration of vast weight. The dignity of a man's character adds weight to his words.

WEIGHT'I-LY, adv.

1. Heavily; ponderously.
2. With force or impressiveness; with moral power.

WEIGHT'I-NESS, n.

1. Ponderousness; gravity; heaviness.
2. Solidity; force; impressiveness; power of convincing; as, the weightiness of an argument. – Locke.
3. Importance. – Hayward.

WEIGHT'LESS, a.

Having no weight; light. – Dryden.

WEIGHT'Y, a.

1. Having great weight; heavy; ponderous; as, a weighty body.
2. Important; forcible; momentous; adapted to turn the balance in the mind, or to convince; as, weighty reasons; weighty matters; weighty considerations or arguments. – Shak.
3. Rigorous; severe; as, our weightier judgment. [Not in use.] – Shak.

WEIRD, a.

Skilled in witchcraft. [Not in use.] – Shak.

WEIRD, n.

A spell or charm. – W. Scott.

WEIVE, v. [or n.]

for Waive. [Not in use.] Gower.

WEL'A-WAY, exclam.

An exclamation expressive of grief or sorrow, equivalent to alas. It is a compound of Sax. wa, wo, and la, oh. The original is wa-la, which is doubtless the origin of our common exclamation, O la, and to this, wa, wo, is added. The true orthography would be wa la wa. But the word is, I believe, wholly obsolete.

WEL'COME, a. [Sax. wil-cuma; well and come; that is, your coming is pleasing to me.]

1. Received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment and company; as, a welcome guest.
2. Grateful; pleasing; as, a welcome present; welcome news.
3. Free to have or enjoy gratuitously. You are welcome to the use of my library. To bid welcome, to receive with professions of kindness. – Bacon.

WEL'COME, n.

1. Salutation of a new comer. Welcome ever smiles. – Shak.
2. Kind reception of a guest or new comer. We entered the house and found a ready welcome.

WEL'COME, v.

Is used elliptically for you are welcome. Welcome, great monarch, to your own. – Dryden. Welcome to our house, an herb.

WEL'COME, v.t. [Sax. wilcumian.]

To salute a new comer with kindness; or to receive and entertain hospitably, gratuitously and cheerfully. Truth finds an entrance and a welcome too. – South. Thus we salute thee with our early song, / And welcome thee, and wish thee long. – Milton.