(a) Deficient in strength of body; feeble; infirm; sickly; debilitated;
enfeebled; exhausted.
A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man.
Shak.
Weak with hunger, mad with love.
Dryden.
(b) Not able to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain; as, a weak
timber; a weak rope.
(c) Not firmly united or adhesive; easily broken or separated into
pieces; not compact; as, a weak ship.
(d) Not stiff; pliant; frail; soft; as, the weak stalk of a plant.
(e) Not able to resist external force or onset; easily subdued or
overcome; as, a weak barrier; as, a weak fortress.
(f) Lacking force of utterance or sound; not sonorous; low; small;
feeble; faint.
A voice not soft, weak, piping, and womanish.
Ascham.
(g) Not thoroughly or abundantly impregnated with the usual or required
ingredients, or with stimulating and nourishing substances; of less
than the usual strength; as, weak tea, broth, or liquor; a weak
decoction or solution; a weak dose of medicine.
(h) Lacking ability for an appropriate function or office; as, weak
eyes; a weak stomach; a weak magistrate; a weak regiment, or army.
2. Not possessing or manifesting intellectual, logical, moral, or
political strength, vigor, etc. Specifically: -
(a) Feeble of mind; wanting discernment; lacking vigor; spiritless; as,
a weak king or magistrate.
To think every thing disputable is a proof of a weak mind and captious
temper.
Beattie.
Origen was never weak enough to imagine that there were two Gods.
Waterland.
(b) Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or
firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.
If evil thence ensue, She first his weak indulgence will accuse.
Milton.
(c) Not having full confidence or conviction; not decided or confirmed;
vacillating; wavering.
Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful
disputations.
Rom. xiv. 1.
(d) Not able to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily
impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable; as, weak
resolutions; weak virtue.
Guard thy heart On this weak side, where most our nature fails.
Addison.
(e) Wanting in power to influence or bind; as, weak ties; a weak sense
of honor of duty.
(f) Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or
truth; unsustained; as, a weak argument or case. "Convinced of his weak
arguing." Milton.
A case so weak . . . hath much persisted in.
Hooker.
(g) Wanting in point or vigor of expression; as, a weak sentence; a
weak style.
(h) Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not
potent; feeble. "Weak prayers." Shak.
(i) Lacking in elements of political strength; not wielding or having
authority or energy; deficient in the resources that are essential to a
ruler or nation; as, a weak monarch; a weak government or state.
I must make fair weather yet awhile, Till Henry be more weak, and I
more strong.
Shak.
(k) (Stock Exchange) Tending towards lower prices; as, a weak market.
3. (Gram.) (a) Pertaining to, or designating, a verb which forms its
preterit (imperfect) and past participle by adding to the present the
suffix -ed, -d, or the variant form -t; as in the verbs abash, abashed;
abate, abated; deny, denied; feel, felt. See Strong, 19 (a). (b)
Pertaining to, or designating, a noun in Anglo- Saxon, etc., the stem
of which ends in -n. See Strong, 19 (b).
Weak is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as,
weak-eyed, weak-handed, weak-hearted, weak-minded, weak-spirited, and
the like.
<! p. 1636 !>
Weak conjugation (Gram.), the conjugation of weak verbs; — called also
new, or regular, conjugation, and distinguished from the old, or
irregular, conjugation. — Weak declension (Anglo- Saxon Gram.), the
declension of weak nouns; also, one of the declensions of adjectives. —
Weak side, the side or aspect of a person's character or disposition by
which he is most easily affected or influenced; weakness; infirmity. —
Weak sore or ulcer (Med.), a sore covered with pale, flabby, sluggish
granulations.
Weak (?), v. t. & i. [Cf. AS. w&?;can. wcian. See Weak, a.] To make or
become weak; to weaken. [R.]
Never to seek weaking variety.
Marston.
Weak"en (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Weakened (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Weakening.]
1. To make weak; to lessen the strength of; to deprive of strength; to
debilitate; to enfeeble; to enervate; as, to weaken the body or the
mind; to weaken the hands of a magistrate; to weaken the force of an
objection or an argument.
Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done.
Neh. vi. 9.
2. To reduce in quality, strength, or spirit; as, to weaken tea; to
weaken any solution or decoction.
Weak"en, v. i. To become weak or weaker; to lose strength, spirit, or
determination; to become less positive or resolute; as, the patient
weakened; the witness weakened on cross-examination. "His notion
weakens, his discernings are lethargied." Shak.
Weak"en*er (?), n. One who, or that which, weakens. "[Fastings]
weakeners of sin." South.
Weak"fish` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any fish of the genus Cynoscion; a
squeteague; — so called from its tender mouth. See Squeteague.
Spotted weakfish (Zoöl.), the spotted squeteague.
Weak"-heart`ed (?), a. Having little courage; of feeble spirit;
dispirited; faint-hearted. "Weak- hearted enemies." Shak.
Weak"ish, a. Somewhat weak; rather weak.
Weak"ish*ness, n. Quality or state of being weakish.
Weak"-kneed` (?), a. Having weak knees; hence, easily yielding; wanting
resolution. H. James.
Weak"ling (?), n. [Weak + - ling.] A weak or feeble creature. Shak.
"All looking on him as a weakling, which would post to the grave."
Fuller.
We may not be weaklings because we have a strong enemy.
Latimer.
Weak"ling, a. Weak; feeble. Sir T. North.
Weak"ly, adv. In a weak manner; with little strength or vigor; feebly.
Weak"ly, a. [Compar. Weaklier (?); superl. Weakliest.] Not strong of
constitution; infirm; feeble; as, a weakly woman; a man of a weakly
constitution.
Weak"-mind`ed (?), a. Having a weak mind, either naturally or by reason
of disease; feebleminded; foolish; idiotic. — Weak"-mind`ed*ness, n.
Weak"ness, n. 1. The quality or state of being weak; want of strength
or firmness; lack of vigor; want of resolution or of moral strength;
feebleness.
2. That which is a mark of lack of strength or resolution; a fault; a
defect.
Many take pleasure in spreading abroad the weakness of an exalted
character.
Spectator.
Syn. — Feebleness; debility; languor; imbecility; infirmness;
infirmity; decrepitude; frailty; faintness.
Weal (?), n. The mark of a stripe. See Wale.
Weal, v. t. To mark with stripes. See Wale.
Weal, n. [OE. wele, AS. wela, weola, wealth, from wel well. See Well,
adv., and cf. Wealth.]
1. A sound, healthy, or prosperous state of a person or thing;
prosperity; happiness; welfare.
God . . . grant you wele and prosperity.
Chaucer.
As we love the weal of our souls and bodies.
Bacon.
To him linked in weal or woe.
Milton.
Never was there a time when it more concerned the public weal that the
character of the Parliament should stand high.
Macaulay.