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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.

parative tendency to the center of the earth; the quantity of matter as estimated by the balance, or expressed numerically with reference to some standard unit; as, a mass of stone having the weight of five hundred pounds. For sorrow, like a heavy-hanging bell, Once set on ringing, with his own weight goes. Shak.…

Adapted to turn the balance in the mind, or to convince; important; forcible; serious; momentous. "For sundry weighty reasons." Shak. Let me have your advice in a weighty affair. Swift.

A New Zealand rail (Ocydromus australis) which has wings so short as to be incapable of flight.

A small New Zealand owl (Sceloglaux albifacies). It has short wings and long legs, and lives chiefly on the ground.

A cavity which receives a counterbalancing weight in certain mechanical contrivances, and is adapted also for other purposes. W. M. Buchanan.

ng. -- Whale shot, the name formerly given to spermaceti. -- Whale's tongue (Zoöl.), a balanoglossus.

hin a wheel, or Wheels within wheels, a complication of circumstances, motives, etc. -- Balance wheel. See in the Vocab. -- Bevel wheel, Brake wheel, Cam wheel, Fifth wheel, Overshot wheel, Spinning wheel, etc. See under Bevel, Brake, etc. -- Core wheel. (Mach.) (a) A mortise gear. (b) A wheel having a rim perforate…

A small translucent fish (Salanx Chinensis) abundant at certain seasons on the coasts of China and Japan, and used in the same manner as the European whitebait.

An inflammation of the fingers or toes, generally of the last phalanx, terminating usually in suppuration. The inflammation may occupy any seat between the skin and the bone, but is usually applied to a felon or inflammation of the periosteal structures of the bone.

A peculiar New Zealand shrub (Coriaria ruscifolia), in which the petals ripen and afford an abundant purple juice from which a kind of wine is made. The plant also grows in Chili.

ar by which accounts are reckoned, or the year between one annual time of settlement, or balancing of accounts, and another. -- Great year. See Platonic year, under Platonic. -- Gregorian year, Julian year. See under Gregorian, and Julian. -- Leap year. See Leap year, in the Vocabulary. -- Lunar astronomical year,…

An oil pressed by the Arabs from the fruit of a small thorny tree (Balanites Ægyptiaca), and sold to piligrims for a healing ointment. J. Smith (Dict. Econ. Plants).