weigh up

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To weigh up is to compare the good and the bad of a choice. Both sides on the scales, and then a decision.

It splits round an object. The phrase describes deliberation rather than calculation, so weighing up the options is what somebody does before committing. There is a second sense about people, since weighing somebody up means assessing them, usually on first meeting and usually silently. Weigh against is the version used when one factor is being set opposite another.

Definitions of weigh up

1phraseweigh upTo consider the advantages and disadvantages of something.B2
“Give me a day to weigh up the offer.”
2phraseassessTo assess a person.B2
“He seemed to weigh up every visitor at the door.”

Practised in A Man Called Ove, Thinking & Memory

First appears in chapter 11 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

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weigh up

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To weigh up is to compare the good and the bad of a choice. Both sides on the scales, and then a decision.

Definitions of weigh up

1phraseweigh upTo consider the advantages and disadvantages of something.B2
“Give me a day to weigh up the offer.”
2phraseassessTo assess a person.B2
“He seemed to weigh up every visitor at the door.”

Practised in A Man Called Ove, Thinking & Memory

First appears in chapter 11 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word