outweigh

English

Etymology

From out- +‎ weigh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌaʊtˈweɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

Verb

outweigh (third-person singular simple present outweighs, present participle outweighing, simple past and past participle outweighed)

1. (transitive) To exceed in weight or mass.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:

     The King your brother is now hard at hand,
     Meete with the foole, and rid your royall ſhoulders
     Of ſuch a burden, as outweighs the ſands
     And all the craggie rockes of Caſpea.

2. (transitive) To exceed in importance or value.
   • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

     The advantage […] was so great that it would have taken a lot of failures to outweigh it.

   • 1951 January, “Notes and News: Double-Deck Train Trials Results”, in Railway Magazine, page 66:

     The trials have revealed that the advantage of extra seating capacity is more than outweighed by slower station working, as the double-deck train affords one door for 22 seats, compared with 10 or 12 in ordinary compartment stock.

   • 1960 April, “Talking of trains: The new link at Barnsley”, in Trains Illustrated, page 197:

     A few trains, mostly at peak periods, will still terminate at Barnsley because the convenience to workpeople of their current times outweighs the advantages of through working.

   • 2019 May 20, Walter Thompson, “A school's mural removal: should kids be shielded from brutal US history?”, in The Guardian‎:

     Flores said the images’ negative impact outweighs their historical and artistic value.

Translations

to exceed in weight or mass

Arabic: ثَقَلَ (ar) (ṯaqala) Bulgarian: тежа повече от (teža poveče ot) German: überwiegen (de) Italian: eccedere (it) Romanian: a cântări mai greu decât

to exceed in importance or value

Bulgarian: имам по-голямо значение (imam po-goljamo značenie) German: überragen (de) Italian: superare (it) Japanese: 上回る (ja) (uwamawaru) Romanian: a excede în valoare Spanish: suprapesar, extrapesar, superar (es), exceder (es), ultrapesar

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Czech: (please verify) převážit (cs) Dutch: (please verify) zwaarder wegen German: (please verify) überwiegen (de), übertreffen (de), übersteigen (de) Swedish: (please verify) överväga (sv)

See also

• outnumber

Anagrams

• weigh out