to weigh against
- phrasal verb
- The level of performance obtained should also be weighed against the cost of implementing the system.
- weighed against the benefits
- weighed against the cost
- weighed against the risks
There's like ideologies or principles or things we value that weigh against those costs.
- There's like ideologies or principles or things we value that weigh against those costs.
- There's there's many cases in moral life where we're mistaken about, you know, the the real priorities of goods and how they should be weighed against each other.
- And that has to be weighed against the cost of the colonoscopy, both the financial cost and the risks, which are very low, but not zero.
Examples
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Greater disclosure also has costs that must be weighed against its capacity to increase the returns generated by capital-utilizing activity.
Academic text (1998) -
From a societal perspective, the costs have to be weighed against benefits.
Academic text (2002) -
The harmful behavior of an act to society is weighed against the citizens' right to choose.
Blog text (34) -
Clausewitz appears to have meant that the results of any war must be weighed against its political context and background.
Academic text (1995) -
Under the tripartite standard, foreign sovereign interests are weighed against two case management factors.
Academic text (2017) -
In theory, again, the anticompetitive and beneficial effects are weighed against one another.
Academic text (1995) -
On the other hand, such considerations must be weighed against the special needs of PAS children.
Blog text (15) -
And that has to be weighed against the cost of the colonoscopy, both the financial cost and the risks, which are very low, but not zero.
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The woman's right to respect for her private life must be weighed against other competing rights and freedoms, including those of the unborn child.
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When considering a new job offer, you should weigh against the salary and benefits.
Synonyms
To make someone or something less able to succeed than others
To have facts or problems build up and hurt someone
How Damaging
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'weigh' (to have or assign weight/evaluate) and 'against' (in comparison to; opposed to) transparently signal a comparative assessment, so learners who know both words can infer that items are being balanced or compared. However, the nuance that something 'weighs against' another as a disadvantage or countervailing factor is a mild metaphorical extension and not fully predictable without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrasal verb weigh against comes from the image of a scale: you weigh one thing and put the other thing against it to see which side is heavier. That's why weigh against now means 'to be a disadvantage' when two things are compared.