Light, a. [Compar. Lighter superl. Lightest.]
 1. Having little, or comparatively little, weight; not tending to be the center of gravity with force; not heavy.
    These weights did not exert their natural gravity, . . . insomuch that I could not guess which was light or heavy whilst I held them in my hand.   --Addison.
 2. Not burdensome; easy to be lifted, borne, or carried by physical strength; as, a light burden, or load.
    Ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.   --Matt. xi. 29, 30.
 3. Easy to be endured or performed; not severe; not difficult; as, a light affliction or task.
    Light sufferings give us leisure to complain.   --Dryden.
 4. Easy to be digested; not oppressive to the stomach; as, light food; also, containing little nutriment.
 5. Not heavily armed; armed with light weapons; as, light troops; a troop of light horse.
 6. Not encumbered; unembarrassed; clear of impediments; hence, active; nimble; swift.
    Unmarried men are best friends, best masters . . . but not always best subjects, for they are light to run away.   --Bacon.
 7. Not heavily burdened; not deeply laden; not sufficiently ballasted; as, the ship returned light.
 8. Slight; not important; as, a light error.
 9. Well leavened; not heavy; as, light bread.
 10. Not copious or heavy; not dense; not inconsiderable; as, a light rain; a light snow; light vapors.
 11. Not strong or violent; moderate; as, a light wind.
 12. Not pressing heavily or hard upon; hence, having an easy, graceful manner; delicate; as, a light touch; a light style of execution.
 13. Easy to admit influence; inconsiderate; easily influenced by trifling considerations; unsteady; unsettled; volatile; as, a light, vain person; a light mind.
    There is no greater argument of a light and inconsiderate person than profanely to scoff at religion.   --Tillotson.
 14. Indulging in, or inclined to, levity; wanting dignity or solemnity; trifling; gay; frivolous; airy; unsubstantial.
    Seneca can not be too heavy, nor Plautus too light.   --Shak.
    Specimens of New England humor laboriously light and lamentably mirthful.   --Hawthorne.
 15. Not quite sound or normal; somewhat impaired or deranged; dizzy; giddy.
    Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain ?   --Shak.
 16. Easily bestowed; inconsiderately rendered.
    To a fair semblance doth light faith annex.   --Spenser.
 17. Wanton; unchaste; as, a woman of light character.
    A light wife doth make a heavy husband.   --Shak.
 18. Not of the legal, standard, or usual weight; clipped; diminished; as, light coin.
 19. Loose; sandy; easily pulverized; as, a light soil.
 Light cavalry, Light horse Mil., light-armed soldiers mounted on strong and active horses.
 Light eater, one who eats but little.
 Light infantry, infantry soldiers selected and trained for rapid evolutions.
 Light of foot. (a) Having a light step. (b) Fleet.
 Light of heart, gay, cheerful.
 Light oil Chem., the oily product, lighter than water, forming the chief part of the first distillate of coal tar, and consisting largely of benzene and toluene.
 Light sails Naut., all the sails above the topsails, with, also, the studding sails and flying jib. --Dana.
 Light sleeper, one easily wakened.
 Light weight, a prize fighter, boxer, wrestler, or jockey, who is below a standard medium weight.  Cf. Feather weight, under Feather. [Cant]
 To make light of, to treat as of little consequence; to slight; to disregard.
 To set light by, to undervalue; to slight; to treat as of no importance; to despise.


 Weight n.
 1. The quality of being heavy; that property of bodies by which they tend toward the center of the earth; the effect of gravitative force, especially when expressed in certain units or standards, as pounds, grams, etc.
 Note: ☞ Weight differs from gravity in being the effect of gravity, or the downward pressure of a body under the influence of gravity; hence, it constitutes a measure of the force of gravity, and being the resultant of all the forces exerted by gravity upon the different particles of the body, it is proportional to the quantity of matter in the body.
 2. The quantity of heaviness; comparative 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.
 3. Hence, pressure; burden; as, the weight of care or business.  “The weight of this said time.”
    For the public all this weight he bears.   --Milton.
    [He] who singly bore the world's sad weight.   --Keble.
 4. Importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness; as, a consideration of vast weight.
    In such a point of weight, so near mine honor.   --Shak.
 5. A scale, or graduated standard, of heaviness; a mode of estimating weight; as, avoirdupois weight; troy weight; apothecaries' weight.
 6. A ponderous mass; something heavy; as, a clock weight; a paper weight.
    A man leapeth better with weights in his hands.   --Bacon.
 7. A definite mass of iron, lead, brass, or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies; as, an ounce weight.
 8. Mech. The resistance against which a machine acts, as opposed to the power which moves it.  [Obs.]
 Atomic weight. Chem. See under Atomic, and cf. Element.
 Dead weight, Feather weight, Heavy weight, Light weight, etc.  See under Dead, Feather, etc.
 Weight of observation Astron. & Physics, a number expressing the most probable relative value of each observation in determining the result of a series of observations of the same kind.
 Syn: -- Ponderousness; gravity; heaviness; pressure; burden; load; importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness.


 Feath·er n.
 1. One of the peculiar dermal appendages, of several kinds, belonging to birds, as contour feathers, quills, and down.
 Note: ☞ An ordinary feather consists of the quill or hollow basal part of the stem; the shaft or rachis, forming the upper, solid part of the stem; the vanes or webs, implanted on the rachis and consisting of a series of slender laminæ or barbs, which usually bear barbules, which in turn usually bear barbicels and interlocking hooks by which they are fastened together. See Down, Quill, Plumage.
 2. Kind; nature; species; -- from the proverbial phrase, “Birds of a feather,” that is, of the same species. [R.]
 I am not of that feather to shake off
 My friend when he must need me.   --Shak.
 3. The fringe of long hair on the legs of the setter and some other dogs.
 4. A tuft of peculiar, long, frizzly hair on a horse.
 5. One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow.
 6. Mach. & Carp. A longitudinal strip projecting as a fin from an object, to strengthen it, or to enter a channel in another object and thereby prevent displacement sidwise but permit motion lengthwise; a spline.
 7. A thin wedge driven between the two semicylindrical parts of a divided plug in a hole bored in a stone, to rend the stone.
 8. The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float, with reference to a horizontal axis, as it leaves or enters the water.
 Note: ☞ Feather is used adjectively or in combination, meaning composed of, or resembling, a feather or feathers; as, feather fan, feather-heeled, feather duster.
    Feather alum Min., a hydrous sulphate of alumina, resulting from volcanic action, and from the decomposition of iron pyrites; -- called also halotrichite. --Ure.
 Feather bed, a bed filled with feathers.
 Feather driver, one who prepares feathers by beating.
 Feather duster, a dusting brush of feathers.
 Feather flower, an artifical flower made of feathers, for ladies' headdresses, and other ornamental purposes.
 Feather grass Bot., a kind of grass (Stipa pennata) which has a long feathery awn rising from one of the chaffy scales which inclose the grain.
 Feather maker, one who makes plumes, etc., of feathers, real or artificial.
 Feather ore Min., a sulphide of antimony and lead, sometimes found in capillary forms and like a cobweb, but also massive. It is a variety of Jamesonite.
 Feather shot, or Feathered shot Metal., copper granulated by pouring into cold water. --Raymond.
 Feather spray Naut., the spray thrown up, like pairs of feathers, by the cutwater of a fast-moving vessel.
 Feather star. Zool. See Comatula.
 Feather weight. Racing (a) Scrupulously exact weight, so that a feather would turn the scale, when a jockey is weighed or weighted. (b) The lightest weight that can be put on the back of a horse in racing. --Youatt. (c) In wrestling, boxing, etc., a term applied to the lightest of the classes into which contestants are divided; -- in contradistinction to light weight, middle weight, and heavy weight.
 A feather in the cap an honour, trophy, or mark of distinction. [Colloq.]
 To be in full feather, to be in full dress or in one's best clothes. [Collog.]
 To be in high feather, to be in high spirits. [Collog.]
 To cut a feather. (a) Naut. To make the water foam in moving; in allusion to the ripple which a ship throws off from her bows. (b) To make one's self conspicuous. [Colloq.]
 To show the white feather, to betray cowardice, -- a white feather in the tail of a cock being considered an indication that he is not of the true game breed.


 Heav·y a. [Compar. Heavier superl. Heaviest.]
 1. Heaved or lifted with labor; not light; weighty; ponderous; as, a heavy stone; hence, sometimes, large in extent, quantity, or effects; as, a heavy fall of rain or snow; a heavy failure; heavy business transactions, etc.; often implying strength; as, a heavy barrier; also, difficult to move; as, a heavy draught.
 2. Not easy to bear; burdensome; oppressive; hard to endure or accomplish; hence, grievous, afflictive; as, heavy yokes, expenses, undertakings, trials, news, etc.
    The hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod.   --1 Sam. v. 6.
    The king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make.   --Shak.
    Sent hither to impart the heavy news.   --Wordsworth.
    Trust him not in matter of heavy consequence.   --Shak.
 3. Laden with that which is weighty; encumbered; burdened; bowed down, either with an actual burden, or with care, grief, pain, disappointment.
    The heavy [sorrowing] nobles all in council were.   --Chapman.
    A light wife doth make a heavy husband.   --Shak.
 4. Slow; sluggish; inactive; or lifeless, dull, inanimate, stupid; as, a heavy gait, looks, manners, style, and the like; a heavy writer or book.
    Whilst the heavy plowman snores.   --Shak.
    Of a heavy, dull, degenerate mind.   --Dryden.
    Neither [is] his ear heavy, that it can not hear.   --Is. lix. 1.
 5. Strong; violent; forcible; as, a heavy sea, storm, cannonade, and the like.
 6. Loud; deep; -- said of sound; as, heavy thunder.
    But, hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more.   --Byron.
 7. Dark with clouds, or ready to rain; gloomy; -- said of the sky.
 8. Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey; -- said of earth; as, a heavy road, soil, and the like.
 9. Not raised or made light; as, heavy bread.
 10. Not agreeable to, or suitable for, the stomach; not easily digested; -- said of food.
 11. Having much body or strength; -- said of wines, or other liquors.
 12. With child; pregnant. [R.]
 Heavy artillery. Mil. (a) Guns of great weight or large caliber, esp. siege, garrison, and seacoast guns. (b) Troops which serve heavy guns.
 Heavy cavalry. See under Cavalry.
 Heavy fire Mil., a continuous or destructive cannonading, or discharge of small arms.
 Heavy metal Mil., large guns carrying balls of a large size; also, large balls for such guns.
 Heavy metals. Chem. See under Metal.
 Heavy weight, in wrestling, boxing, etc., a term applied to the heaviest of the classes into which contestants are divided.  Cf. Feather weight (c), under Feather.
 Note: ☞ Heavy is used in composition to form many words which need no special explanation; as, heavy-built, heavy-browed, heavy-gaited, etc.