Weak /(wēk)/

Weak

a.
  1. Wanting physical strength.
  2. Deficient in strength of body; feeble; infirm; sickly; debilitated; enfeebled; exhausted.
    A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man.
    Weak with hunger, mad with love.
  3. Not able to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain; as, a weak timber; a weak rope.
  4. Not firmly united or adhesive; easily broken or separated into pieces; not compact; as, a weak ship.
  5. Not stiff; pliant; frail; soft; as, the weak stalk of a plant.
  6. Not able to resist external force or onset; easily subdued or overcome; as, a weak barrier; as, a weak fortress.
  7. Lacking force of utterance or sound; not sonorous; low; small; feeble; faint.
    A voice not soft, weak, piping, and womanish.
    — Ascham.
  8. 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.
  9. Lacking ability for an appropriate function or office; as, weak eyes; a weak stomach; a weak magistrate; a weak regiment, or army.
  10. Not possessing or manifesting intellectual, logical, moral, or political strength, vigor, etc.
  11. 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.
  12. Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.
    If evil thence ensue, She first his weak indulgence will accuse.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. Wanting in power to influence or bind; as, weak ties; a weak sense of honor of duty.
  16. Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained; as, a weak argument or case.
    A case so weak . . . hath much persisted in.
  17. Wanting in point or vigor of expression; as, a weak sentence; a weak style.
  18. Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble.
  19. 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.
  20. Tending towards lower prices; as, a weak market. (Stock Exchange)
  21. 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). (Gram.)
  22. Tending toward a lower price or lower prices; as, wheat is weak; a weak market. (Stock Exchange)
  23. Lacking in good cards; deficient as to number or strength; as, a hand weak in trumps. (Card Playing)
  24. Lacking contrast; as, a weak negative. (Photog.)

Phrases & Compounds

Weak conjugation
the conjugation of weak verbs; -- called also new conjugation, [or] regular conjugation, and distinguished from the old conjugation, or irregular conjugation.
Weak declension
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
a sore covered with pale, flabby, sluggish granulations.

Weak

v. t. & i.
  1. To make or become weak; to weaken. [R.]
    Never to seek weaking variety.