Library / English Dictionary

OUTWEIGH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be heavier than

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "outweigh" is one way to...):

exceed; outdo; outgo; outmatch; outperform; outstrip; surmount; surpass (be or do something to a greater degree)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam cannot outweigh Sue

Sense 2

Meaning:

Weigh more heavily

Example:

these considerations outweigh our wishes

Synonyms:

outbalance; outweigh; overbalance; preponderate

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "outweigh" is one way to...):

dominate; predominate; prevail; reign; rule (be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

Fully five feet in length, and standing two and one-half feet at the shoulder, he far outweighed a wolf of corresponding size.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

His evils seemed to lessen, her own advantages to increase, their mutual good to outweigh every drawback.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Mr. Micawber's enjoyment of his epistolary powers, in describing this unfortunate state of things, really seemed to outweigh any pain or anxiety that the reality could have caused him.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The situation of Barton, in a county so far distant from Sussex as Devonshire, which, but a few hours before, would have been a sufficient objection to outweigh every possible advantage belonging to the place, was now its first recommendation.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

It is as well, for I have already made up my mind that my duty to you, my son, outweighs that which I owe, and have at such bitter cost fulfilled, to my brother and my family.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

One smallest new fact obtained in the laboratory, one brick built into the temple of science, far outweighs any second-hand exposition which passes an idle hour, but can leave no useful result behind it.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I confess, replied Elinor, that every circumstance except ONE is in favour of their engagement; but that ONE is the total silence of both on the subject, and with me it almost outweighs every other.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

My affection for Marianne, my thorough conviction of her attachment to me—it was all insufficient to outweigh that dread of poverty, or get the better of those false ideas of the necessity of riches, which I was naturally inclined to feel, and expensive society had increased.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The whole was tied up for the benefit of this child, who, in occasional visits with his father and mother at Norland, had so far gained on the affections of his uncle, by such attractions as are by no means unusual in children of two or three years old; an imperfect articulation, an earnest desire of having his own way, many cunning tricks, and a great deal of noise, as to outweigh all the value of all the attention which, for years, he had received from his niece and her daughters.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)