▪ I. weather, n.
(ˈwɛðə(r))
Forms: 1 weder, 2 wæder, 2–5 weder, 4 Sc. vedir, weddire, wedyre, 4–5 wedir(e, wedre, wedur, wedyr, whedir, 5 Sc. weddre, -ir, -yr, wedere, wedyer, wheder, whed(d)yr, 6 weddur, wedor, Sc. wadder, (veddir), wodder, -ir, woder, (vodder); 5 wethyr, 5–7 wether, 5–6 whether, 6, 9 Sc. wathir, (6 vedthir), 6– weather.
[Com. Teut. (not recorded in Gothic): OE. weder neut., OFris. weder, wether (NFris. wedder, WFris. waer, war), OS. wedar weather, storm, Du. weder, weer, OHG. wetar (MHG. weter, mod.G. wetter), ON. veðr (Sw. väder, Da. vejr):—OTeut. *weđro-m. It is uncertain whether the pre-Teut. form was *wedhro-m (= OSl. vedro, Russian vedro good weather, vedrŭ adj., fair, said of weather; cogn. w. Lith. vidras, vydra, storm, áudra storm, flood) or *wetró-m (ablaut-var. of Lith. vétra storm, OSl. vĕtrŭ air, wind); on either alternative the word is prob. f. the Indogermanic root *wē̆ to blow (see wind n.1) + suffix dhro- or tro-.
The spelling with th instead of the earlier d first occurs in the 15th c. (though the pronunciation which it indicates may well be much older); before the end of the 16th c. it had become universal. In several dialects, chiefly Sc. and n.w., the pronunciation with (d) still survives. See th 6, and the note s.v. father n.
The nautical use = wind, direction of the wind (see senses 3, 8) is probably derived from ON. veðr.]
I. 1. a. The condition of the atmosphere (at a given place and time) with respect to heat or cold, quantity of sunshine, presence or absence of rain, hail, snow, thunder, fog, etc., violence or gentleness of the winds. Also, the condition of the atmosphere regarded as subject to vicissitudes.
For wind and weather (rarely † weather and wind) see wind n.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) T 121 Temperiem, uueder. a 1000 Azarias 62 Wedere onlicust, þonne on sumeres tid sended weorþeð dropena dreorung. a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 259 Þæt he friðiᵹe & forðiᵹe ælce [tilþe] be ðam..ðe hine weder wisað. c 1205 Lay. 12042 Þe wind gond aliðen & þat weder leoðede. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2441, & vor weder & oþer þing on erþe after hom [sc. the planets] moche is, Þis misbileuede men hom clupede godes. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 670 And if ye liggen wel to-night, com ofte, And careth not what weder is on-lofte. c 1400 T. Chestre Launfal 223 And for hete of the wedere Hys mantell he feld togydere And sette hym doun to reste. c 1403 Lydg. Temple of Glas 395 And oft also, aftir a dropping mone, The weddir clereþ. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 627 But sodanly þe wedir chaunged. c 1520 Skelton Garl. Laurel 1442 How men were wonte for to discerne By candelmes day what wedder shuld holde. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 161 The lengthe or shortnesse of the marke is alwayes vnder the rule of the wether. 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 88 Item the intemperancie & mutation of the ayre, & whether, may be cause of aborcement. 1528 Lyndesay Dreme 774 Surmountyng the myd Regioun of the air, Quhare no maner of perturbatioun Off wodder may ascend so hie as thair. 1609 Pimlyco, or Runne Red-Cap D 2, To know what Wether was to come By 'th Almanacke. 1667 Sprat Hist. R. Soc. 247 A Wheel-Barometer, and other Instruments for finding the pressure of the Air, and serving to predict the changes of the Weather. 1678 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 45 Lady Portsmouth..goes to Bourbon as soone as the weather opens to allow travelling. 1779 Mirror No. 35 The conversation began about the weather, my aunt observing, that the seasons were wonderfully altered in her memory. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Ruth xxv, It was weather for open doors and windows. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn viii, However, I am sincerely glad you are come, I knew no weather would stop you. 1890 C. Dixon Ann. Bird Life 309 They are birds which have no regular winter home{ddd}they wander to and fro, south and north, just as the exigency of the weather drives them. |
¶ In
advb. phrases sometimes with omission of
in.
| 1738 C'tess Pomfret in C'tess Hartford's Corr. (1805) I. 10 On your left hand is the fire (no bad thing this weather), and on your right a window. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xxv, Fred keeps the house all kinds of weather. |
b. With descriptive
adj.,
e.g.,
good,
bad;
hot,
cold,
warm;
bright,
dull;
fine,
fair,
foul;
dry,
wet,
rainy;
clear,
thick;
rough,
windy,
still,
calm.
| c 893 ælfred Oros. vi. xxxii, Þa het he betan þærinne micel fyr, for þon hit wæs ceald weder. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xvi. 2 To-morᵹen hyt byð smylte weder, þes heofen ys read. c 1220 Bestiary 236 Ðe mire is maȝti, Mikel ȝe swinkeð In sumer and in softe weder. c 1290 S.E. Leg. 198 Þat weder þat was so cler and fair. 1340 Ayenb. 129 Ase uayr weder went in-to rene. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1442 Nowes the wedir bright and shynand, And now waxes it alle domland. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2440 What of here hard heiȝing & of þe hote weder, Meliors was al mat. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 310 Þorw Flodes and foul weder Fruites schul fayle. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 300 Nou han þei..hosen in harde weder. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 146/1 Fayre, mery wedur or tyme, amenus. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xiv. ix. 653 And at that tyme the wheder was hote. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xv. 56 The reyny wedre therto propyce and conuenable. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. xlvi. 204 Sometimes they flower againe in Autumne when the whether is milde and pleasant. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iv. 142 You and you, are sure together, As the Winter to fowle Weather. 1631 E. Pellham Gods Power 4 But the next day,..the weather falling out something thicke, and much yce in the Offing [etc.]. 1653 Walton Angler ii. 41 The gloves of an Otter are the best fortification for your hands against wet weather that can be thought of. 1774 M. Mackenzie Marit. Surv. 95 In moderate Weather, anchor a Vessel at the Shoal. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia viii. ix, To go out in all weather to work. Ibid. ix. v, The weather being good on the morning he called. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes ii, The vessel being pretty deep in the water,..and the weather being calm and quiet, there was but little motion. 1853 ― Bleak Ho. xv, There was no fire, though the weather was cold. 1919 H. L. Wilson Ma Pettengill 165 Will you look at that mess of clouds? I bet it's falling weather over in Surprise Valley. |
c. fig. and in figurative context;
spec. (
Lit.), applied to an intellectual climate, state of mind, etc.
| 1603 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 65 Iustinian restored it [the Empire] somewhat to a better state, driuing the Vandals out of Africke, and the Gothes out of Italy by his captaines; but this faire weather lasted not long. 1630 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. §73 O God..Let mee haue no Weather but Sunne⁓shine from thee. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. xcvi, Pipes, who..knew the contents of the piece [a pistol], asked..if it must be foul weather through the whole voyage. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xlvii, Certain polemical skirmishes betwixt her father and her husband, which..often threatened unpleasant weather between them. 1862 Thackeray Philip xxviii, We hadn't much besides our pay, had we? we rubbed on through bad weather and good, managing as best we could. 1878 E. W. Benson in Life (1899) I. xiii. 463 But we have foul weather coming. We have to do the Church's work without sacrificing those party men, [etc.]. 1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 266 A barometer is thus formed by which the financial weather of the country is forecast. 1909 H. James R. Hudson (rev. ed.) vii. 147 He supposed that these changes of intellectual weather..were the lot of every poet. 1922 G. Santayana Soliloquies in England 30 What governs the Englishman is his inner atmosphere, the weather in his soul. 1927 T. Wilder Bridge of San Luis Rey 17 Such authors live always in the noble weather of their own minds. 1962 K. Allott Penguin Bk. Contemp. Verse 18 A short introduction giving explicit attention to the poetic ‘weather’ of each of the last four decades. |
† d. With
indef. article: A kind of weather; a spell of a particular kind of weather.
Obs.| c 1205 Lay. 4573 æst aras a ladlich weder. Ibid. 7398 Þeo com heom a wedere wunderliche feire. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 657 Lord, this is an huge rayn! This were a weder for to slepen inne. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 12914 It made tho a lothely wedur, Hit raynes faste, thondres, & blowes. 1546 Gassar's Prognost. A viij b, Not long before the Sonne shall set, we may looke for a trobelous wether, & perchaunce snow. 1548 Elyot's Dict., Apricitas,..a fayre clere wether. 1618 Rowlands Sacred Mem. 25 Their storme was chang'd into a fayre calme weather. |
e. pl. Kinds of weather: sometimes equivalent to
sing. Now
rare exc. in
phr. (in) all weathers.
| Beowulf 546 Wedera cealdost, nipende niht ond norþan wind, heaðogrim ondhwearf. a 900 Andreas 1256 Weder coledon heardum hæᵹelscurum. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 244 Swa bið eac on wintra, for cyle & for þara wedra missenlicnesse, þæt se milte wyrð ᵹelefed. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 13 Westmes þorð uuele wederas oft and ilome scal for-wurðan. c 1325 Poem temp. Edw. II (Percy) xxxv, Catel cometh and goth As wederis don in lyde. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1424 Sere variaunce, for certayn skille, Of þe tyms and wedirs and sesons. c 1350 Will. Palerne 5216 For wind & gode wederes hade þei at wille. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 349 For þorw werre and wykked werkes and wederes vnresonable Wederwise shipmen..Han no belieue to þe lifte ne to þe lore of philosofres. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. ii. 146 God is such oon, that he nedith not to haue housis ouer him for to couere him fro reyne and fro othir sturne wedris. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 2470 Wederes had they feyre and good. 1526 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 618 Dowble bandes of leade for defence of great wyndes and other outragious wethers. 1639 J. Taylor (Water P.) Pt. Summers Trav. 44 Every Sunday, be it Winter or Summer, all manner of weathers. 1697 T. Smith in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 247, I was forced..to go downe to Westminster..in all weathers. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 21 He's..not so stiff as to carry Sail against all Weathers. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Abbé Conti 17 May, It is covered on the top with boards to keep out the rain, that merchants may meet conveniently in all weathers. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley xi, She took walks in all weathers—long walks in solitary directions. 1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xix, It was impossible to pass round the promontory on horseback in the best of weathers; now doubly so. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. v, All weathers saw the man at the post. |
| fig. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. v. i. 195 Camillo ha's betray'd me; Whose honor, and whose honestie till now, Endur'd all Weathers. |
† f. With implied favourable qualification: Weather suitable for some purpose.
Obs.| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machar) 1486 Þar-to weddire had þai þane, þat þai wane froyt of land & se thru his prayere in gret pleynte. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 113 Bote ich hadde wedir at my wil ich wited god þe cause. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 3280 Thei..passed the see, when thei hadde wedur, To Thenedoun. 1469 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 21 Whether is so latesum in this cuntrey, that men can neither well gett corne nor hay. |
g. With unfavourable implication: Adverse, unpleasant, hurtful, or destructive condition of the atmosphere; rain, frost, wind-driven waves, etc. as destructive agents.
stress of weather: see
stress n. 3.
| a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud) an. 1097, He þohte his hired on Winceastre to healdenne, ac he wearð þurh weder ᵹelet. Ibid. an. 1114, Ac wæder him lætte. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 443 Swich housinge we han to holde out þe wedures. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 76 A drift of wedir vs droffe to Rome. 1425 Paston Lett. Suppl. (1901) 5 Whether it wille chippe or chynne or affraye with frost or weder or water. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 233 b, Which bridge was made and covered with bordes, onely to kepe of the wether. 1557 Tusser 100 Points Husb. xxxv, Thinges sowne, set or graft, in good memory haue: from beast, birde and weather to cherishe and saue. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine ii. 7 Before the vse of garments was found out against weathers iniury. 1616 T. Scot Philomythie H 6 b, His [the weathercock's] taile was too too weake, when euery feather Was bent with storms, and broken with the weather. 1638 M. Casaubon Use & Custom 77 It hath beene observed of some free stones, that..if they bee laid in that proper posture, which they had naturally in their quarries, they grow very hard and durable against both time and weather. 1665 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 4 The stones..being of a soft..condition and not able to endure the sunn and weather. 1693 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 251 Chords, which should be well Pitched to preserve them from the Weather, and rotting. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. xxii, Weather and war their rougher trace Have left on that majestic face. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. lvii, ‘Are you well wrapped up?’.. I told him I cared for no weather, and was warmly clothed. 1872 Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms s.v. Louvre Boards, Boards..to keep out the weather. |
| fig. 1663 Charleton Chorea Gigant. 18 An Invention..not so firmly founded, as to be impregnable; nor so closely compacted in all its parts, as to keep out all weather of Contradiction. |
h. Violent wind accompanied by heavy rain or agitation of the waves. Now
dial. and
Naut. † Also, a storm, tempest; often pleonastically,
storm,
tempest of weather(s.
Obs.| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xxxviii. §1 Ða ᵹestod hine heah weder & stormsæ. c 1205 Lay. 102 Mid wolcnen & mid wedere heo þoleden wensiðes. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3055 Moyses, do ðis weder charen, And ȝu sal [ic] leten ut-faren. a 1300 Cursor M. 6018 Þe seuend on-sand [sc. of the plagues of Egypt] Was a weder ful selcut snell. 13.. K. Alis. 5794 (Laud MS.), Þe wederes stronge & tempestes..hem duden grete molestes. c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules v. 681 Now welcom somer, with thy sonne softe, That hast this wintres weders over-shake. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. iii. 63 And so by mokel duresse of weders and of stormes..I was driven to an yle. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxii. 144 Þer es neuermare..nowþer thunner ne leuenyng, haile ne snawe, ne oþer tempestez of ill weders. 1402 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 44 To were us from wederes of wynteres stormes. c 1420 Wyntoun Cron. vii. x. 3278 And þar be a tempest fel Off gret wedderis scharpe and snel. 1450–1530 Myrr. Our Ladye iii. 303 There are gendered tempastes of weder and hayle. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxx. 114 Whan thenne they had ronne & saylled so moche that they were in the highe see a stronge weddre arose. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. (1812) I. cccxxiv. 506 This rayne and wether endured tyll the sonne rose. 1526 Tindale Heb. xii. 18 Ye are not come..to myst and darcknes and tempest of wedder [Gr. θυέλλῃ]. 1531 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 26 Tempestes of wedder or stormes. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 106 b, Diogenes beeyng vpon the Sea emong a number of naughtie packes in a greate storme of wether, when diuerse of these wicked felowes cried out for feare of drownyng, [etc.]. 1598 in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870) II. 27 [They] alegeit thai war impeidit be storme of wedder. 1703 W. Dampier Voy. III. i. 10 Upon these Signs Ships either get up their Anchors, or slip their Cables and put to Sea, and ply off and on till the Weather is over. 1718 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) VI. 212 The Master and the other Servant, running through the Weather towards the Houses, were both struck dead. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman iii. v, ‘Then don't be late,’ said he, ‘there's weather coming.’ 1898 Morn. Post 11 Nov. 5/2 Wasn't it a beautifully disciplined Mess, though? I wish you could see 'em at sea in weather. |
† i. What falls from the clouds; rain, snow, etc. Also in
fig. context.
Obs.| 1382 Wyclif Deut. xxxii. 2 Flowe as dewe my speche, as wedre [Vulg. imber] vpon erbe. [Ibid. Job xxiv. 8, Eccl. xi. 3, Isa. v. 6, Jer. xiv. 22.] c 1400 Rom. Rose 4336 But er he it in sheves shere, May falle a weder that shal it dere. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 74 The wedderis ar sa fell, that fallis on the feild. a 1533 Ld. Berners Golden Bk. M. Aurel. xxxiv. (1535) 59 The labourer whan it reyneth not, couereth his house, thinkinge that an other tyme the wethers or raynes wyll fall theron and trouble hym. 1595 Shakes. John iv. ii. 109 A fearefull eye thou hast!.. So foule a skie cleeres not without a storme: Poure downe thy weather! how goes all in France? 1825 Jamieson, Weather, a fall of rain or snow accompanied with boisterous wind. Roxb. When the wind comes singly.., [people say] ‘It 'ill be no weather the day, but wind’. |
† j. In contexts relating to clouds or fog, the word sometimes assumes the sense of: Air, sky.
Obs.| c 1375 Cursor M. 24414 (Fairf.) Þe wedder [earlier texts air, aier] be-gan to derkin & blake. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 801/1–4 Hic aier, Hec aera, Hic ether, Hec ethera, the wethyr. a 1500 Coventry Corpus Chr. Plays i. 209 These wedurs ar darke and dym of lyght. 1530 Palsgr. 648/1, I overcast, as the weather dothe wan it is close or darke and lykely to rayne... We shall have a rayne a none, the weather is sore overcaste sodaynly... I overcast, as the cloudes do the weather. c 1605 Drayton Ballad Agincourt 76 Arrowes..that like to serpents stoong, pearcing the Wether. |
2. Phrases.
† a. the weather rains,
weather thunders, etc.
= ‘it rains’, etc.
Obs.| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 140 The weder schal upon thee reine. 1590 Sir J. Smythe Disc. Weapons 19 b, If in the tyme of anie battle..the weather doth happen to raine, haile, or snow. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 24 The weather thundring and storming exceedingly. |
† b. to make (rarely bear) fair weather: to be conciliatory, make a show of friendliness (
to or
with a person); also, to make a specious show of goodness, etc.
to make fair weather of (a state of things): to gloss over, represent as better than it is.
Obs.| c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 8289 At here comyng thei made fair wedur, And spak of many thynges to-gedur. 1537 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 93 Thother parte declare him in wordes towardes his Maieste to make only faire wether, and in his harte..to doo all that he canne to his graces dishonour. 1547 Cheke in Harington Nugæ Ant. (1804) I. 20 And if anye suche shall be, that shall of all things make fair weather, and, whatsoever they shall see to the contrarye, shall tell you all is well. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 369 b, Duke Moris..to make fayre weather [L. pacificationis causa] sendeth his ambassadors to the Counsell. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. cxix. 732 And that is the cause why wee see so fewe holde out in weldoing. Many make faire wether for a time, so as yee woulde thinke them to bee maruellous good men: but in the turning of a hande all is marde. 1589 R. Payne Brief Descr. Irel. 7 Al the better sort doe deadly hate y⊇ Spaniardes, & yet I thinke they beare them fayre weather, for that they are the popes champions. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 30 But I must make faire weather yet a while, Till Henry be more weake, and I more strong. 1596 Edw. III, i. ii. 23 Returne and say, That we with England will not enter parlie, Nor neuer make faire wether, or take truce. 1598 Marston Pygmal., Sat. i. 31 Ixion makes faire weather vnto Ioue. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, 49 To which message, although the French King gaue no full credit, yet he made faire weather with the King, and seemed satisfied. 1673 Kirkman Unlucky Cit. 163 My Mother-in-law made very fair weather to me, and gave me many good words. |
c. Naut. Of a ship,
to make good, bad, etc. weather of it: to behave well or ill in a storm.
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 17 We make foul weather. 1781 Naval Chron. XI. 287 The Ship makes a very good weather of it. 1860 Merc. Marine Mag. VII. 86 The ship making very bad weather and shipping large quantities of water. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Make bad weather, To. A ship rolling, pitching, or leaking violently in a gale. 1881 Daily Tel. 28 Jan., The sea was..not so heavy but that in my judgment a twenty-ton yacht would have made excellent weather of it. |
| fig. 1915 ‘Ian Hay’ 1st Hund. Thou. i. xiii. §2 The feckless and muddle-headed, making heavy weather of the simplest tasks. |
d. in the weather: in an exposed situation, unprotected from rain, cold, and wind; in the open air (usually with implication of severe weather). Similarly
to go into, through the weather.
| a 1513 Fabyan Chron. v. lxxxiii. (1516) 32 The kynges Herdemen passyd by, And seynge this Bysshop with his company syttyng in the weder, desyred hym to his howse to take there such poore lodgynge as he had. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. 102 The Tree roots best, that in the Weather stands. 1693 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 241 The out side of Buildings that lies in the Weather. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes ii, The captain..turns up his coat collar..and goes laughing out into the weather as merrily as to a birthday party. 1865 Mrs. H. Wood Mildred Arkell xlvi, They started together through the weather to the house of William Arkell. 1880 Howells Undisc. Country xiii. 190 Her longing to be in the weather [after an illness]. |
† e. down the weather: in adversity.
to go down the weather: to become bankrupt.
Obs.| 1611 Cotgr., s.v. Aller, Aller au saffran, to fall to decay, to grow bankrupt in estate, to goe downe the weather. 1641 J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 63 We see how Job was despised when he was down the weather, yea even by those, whom, when he prospered, he would scarce have set with the dogs of his flock. |
f. under the weather (
orig. U.S.): indisposed, not quite well.
| 1827 Austin Papers (1924) I. 1622 The fredonians is all here rather under the wether. 1850 D. G. Mitchell Lorgnette (1852) I. 50 As for the Frenchman, though now, between the valorous Poussin and the long-faced Bonaparte, a little under the weather [etc.]. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. iv. 59 ‘What, old lady, are you under the weather?’ he asked, turning to survey his mother with a critical air. 1887 F. R. Stockton Borrowed Month 68 They had been very well as a general thing, although now and then they might have been under the weather for a day or two. |
g. weather permitting: often appended to an announcement (
e.g. of the sailing of a vessel) to indicate that it is conditional on the weather being favourable.
| 1712 Lond. Gaz. No. 4953/4 The Edgley Gally will be ready to Sail.., Wind and Weather permitting. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes i, There was a beautiful port-hole which could be kept open all day (weather permitting). 1883 Black's Guide Devon. (ed. 11) 164 The steamers from Portishead to Ilfracombe call, going and returning, weather permitting. |
h. clerk of the weather: see
clerk n. 3.
| 1829 P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 302 Asking of no favours from the clerk of the weather to keep off ‘the pitiless pelting storm’, as their greasy jackets were proof against all watery attacks. 1835 C. F. Hoffman Winter in West I. 38, I could not, if I had made my own private arrangements with the clerk of the weather, have fixed it upon the whole more to my satisfaction. |
i. to stretch wing to weather: to fly.
| 1825 Scott Betrothed xxiii, If they be not carefully trained..I would rather have a gosshawk on my perch than the fairest falcon that ever stretched wing to weather. |
j. above (or over) the weather (
Aeronaut.), above the range of weather conditions acting at ground-level; above the clouds.
| 1944 Aviation Feb. 497/1 The plane climbs..to fly ‘over the weather’. 1958 Listener 16 Oct. 593/1 It was said that they [sc. accidents] had destroyed all prospect of carrying passengers at speeds not far short of the speed of sound, far above the weather, at heights of 35,000 feet. |
3. Naut. The direction in which the wind is blowing. ‘Applied to anything lying to windward of a particular situation’ (
Adm. Smyth). In various phrases:
to luff nigh the weather: to sail near the wind; in
quot. fig. to drive with the weather: to drift with the wind and waves.
to have the weather of: to be to windward of (another ship); similarly
in, into, on, to, upon (the) weather of. Also,
in, into the weather;
up to weather: to windward.
Cf. a-weather.
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 370 Or elles thei take ate leste Out of hir hand or ring or glove, So nyh the weder thei wol love. 1526 Tindale Acts xxvii. 15 We lett her goo, and drave with the wedder [ἐϕερόµεθα]. 1557 Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 113 Wee had sight of three sailes of shippes..which were in the weather of vs. Ibid., When we met, they had the weather of vs. ? 1565 J. Sparke Ibid. 524 His pinnesse..being in the weather of him. 1588 in St. Papers Defeat Sp. Armada (Navy Rec. Soc. 1894) II. 107 After this we cast about our ship, and kept ourselves close by the Spaniard until midnight, sometime hearing a voice in Spanish calling us; but the wind being very great and we in the weather, the voice was carried away. c 1595 Capt. Wyatt Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 18 [Hee] gave commaundement that the carvell shoulde plie up into the weather. Ibid., The French admerall, who laie aloofe of some six leagues to weather. 1692 J. Smith's Sea-mans Gram. i. xvi. 78 Weather Gage, is when one Ship has the Wind (or is to weather) of another. 1842 Browning Waring iii. 12 Then the boat..from the lee, Into the weather, cut somehow Her sparkling path beneath our bow. 1868 Field 25 July 83/2 The Mabella [yacht] too, was much closer on her weather than was pleasant. 1903 Times 21 Aug. 4/3 Reliance, though astern, was well up to weather. Ibid., Reliance by now had unmistakably got upon the challenger's weather. |
4. The angle which the sails of a windmill make with the perpendicular to the axis. More fully,
angle of weather.
| 1759 Smeaton in Phil. Trans. LI. 141 note, The angle of the sails is accounted from the plain of their motion; that is, when they stand at right angles to the axis, their angle is denoted 0°, this notation being agreeable to the language of practitioners, who call the angle so denoted, the weather of the sail. 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 138 In the mill-wright's terms, the greatest angle of weather was 30 degrees, and the least varied from 12 to 6 degrees, as the inclination of the windshaft varied from 8 to 15 degrees. |
5. = weathering vbl. n. 3.
rare.
| 1894 A. M. Bell in Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst. XXIII. 272 Beyond doubt they [two flints] were chipped at the same time..yet one is weathered, and the other is unaltered. So from an isolated example of weather I am in no haste to draw a conclusion. Ibid. 273 So also with surface finds; if they possess definite characteristics of form, of wear, of weather,..then these are certainly local accidents. |
II. attrib. and
Comb. 6. a. Simple
attrib., as
weather bulletin,
weather-cast,
weather-change,
weather-chart,
weather-forecast,
weather-journal,
weather-lore,
weather-lorist,
weather-map,
weather-mark,
weather prediction,
weather-report,
weather-saw,
weather-screen,
weather-wear,
† weather-wrack.
| 1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train ii. viii. 157 She asked Arnold..to tell her when the *weather bulletin came on; that was normally the only part of the programme to which she cared to listen. 1980 P. Moyes Angel Death xv. 198 The weather bulletin..advised guests that Hurricane Beatrice was..moving at a brisk fourteen knots. |
| 1866 Steinmetz Weathercasts 142 *Weathercasts by the Barometer. 1878 R. Strachan in Mod. Meteorology (1879) 84 A system of storm-warnings and weather-casts. 1980 Time 17 Mar. 37/1 A native American art form, the television weathercast. |
| 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. lii, Something as dim as the sense of approaching *weather-change. |
| 1901 Westm. Gaz. 26 Oct. 5/2 The *weather-chart{ddd}showed that there were several small atmospheric disturbances in the neighbourhood of the British Isles. |
| 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 158/1 *Weather Forecasts and Storm Warnings. |
| 1868 G. M. Hopkins Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 189 Henceforth I keep no regular *weather-journal but only notes. |
| 1875 Chamb. Jrnl. 2 Jan. 7/2 We shall thereby add every year to our *weather-lore of the various oceans and seas. |
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 21 Aug. 10/1 A remarkable dearth of acorns..which, according to the *weather lorists, is a favourable augury for the coming weather. |
| 1877 *Weather map [see facsimile 3]. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 157/1 The International Monthly Weather Maps issued by the United States Signal Service. |
| 1693 Humours Town 15 Bringing Old Age and *Weather marks on you before you have run half your Course. |
| 1909 *Weather prediction [see gaffe]. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 75/1 The comment is given in the style of stock⁓market operations or weather predictions. |
| 1863 R. Fitzroy Weather Bk. 349 Local changes should be indicated to observers..by due attention to the published *Weather Reports. 1939 T. S. Eliot Family Reunion ii. i. 97 And now it is nearly time for the news We must listen to the weather report. 1980 A. E. Fisher Midnight Men vii. 78 He could do without unfavourable weather reports. |
| 1871 G. M. Hopkins 6 Aug. Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 213 The common *weather-saw about the rainbow. |
| 1914 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xx. 181 The men on the bridge ducked their heads as..a shower of spray drifted over the *weather-screens. 1977 P. Smalley Trove ii. 84 The triple-panel weather screen was fitted with heavy duty wipers. |
| 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 191 Owre moor and dale for mony a year, May Davie's famous dykes appear, Ne'er bilged out wi' *wather-wear, But just the same. 1875 Brash Eccl. Archit. Irel. 96 In truth, I have seldom seen a better executed piece of masonry, despite the weather-wear of over seven hundred years. |
| a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Wit at Sev. Weapons ii. i, Well, well, you have built a nest That will stand all stormes, you need not mistrust A *weather-wrack. |
b. objective, as
weather-caster (so
weather-casting),
weather-forecaster,
† weather-wielder;
weather-braving,
weather-withstanding ppl. adjs.| 1800 J. Hurdis Fav. Village 4 How long upon the hill has stood Thy weather-braving tower. |
| c 1904 Encycl. Dict. Suppl., Weather-caster. 1965 Punch 5 May 660/2 His great ambition in life is to be a TV weathercaster. 1980 Time 17 Mar. 37 TV weather⁓casters have been much mocked for their polyester jocularity. Ibid. (heading) The wonderful art of weather⁓casting. |
| 1900 Nature 29 Nov. 110/2 Disappointing..from the viewpoint of the weather forecaster. 1981 Times 9 Dec. 1 The weather forecasters were criticized..for not giving enough warning..of the snowfall. |
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad vii. 3 As the weather-wielder sends, to Sea-men prosperous gales. |
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xliii, Those prudent and resolved and weather-withstanding professors, wha hae kend what it was to lurk..in bogs and in caverns. |
c. instrumental, as
weather-bleached,
weather-blown,
weather-borne,
weather-bronzed,
weather-eaten,
weather-hardened,
weather-roughened,
weather-scarred,
weather-stayed,
weather-tanned,
weather-tinted,
† weather-waft,
weather-wasted,
weather-worn ppl. adjs. Also
weather-beaten, etc.
| 1784 Cowper Task v. 834 His country's *weather-bleach'd and batter'd rocks. |
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad ii. 532 Strong Enispe, that for height, is euer *weather-blowne. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-borne, pressed by wind and sea. |
| 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville xv, Their..*weather-bronzed complexions. |
| 1814 Coleridge Lett. (1895) 640 [A Janus face] all *weather eaten. |
| 1834 Southey Doctor ix. I. 111 A countenance which, *weather-hardened as it was, might have given the painter a model for a Patriarch. |
| 1897 W. B. Yeats Secret Rose 187 Her dark, *weather-roughened skin. |
| 1876 R. Broughton Joan i. i, The *weather-scarred gray walls. |
| 1854 C. L. Balfour Working Women (1868) 395 Whenever he had a guest belated or *weather-staid in that lonely region. |
| 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. lii, A *weather-tanned..woman with a basket. |
| 1814 Scott Wav. v (verses), The *weather-tinted rock and tower. |
| 1647 Ward Simple Cobler 20 Men.., that are *weather-waft up and down with every eddy-wind of every new doctrine. |
| 1822 Scott Pirate xix, These haggard and *weather-wasted features. |
| 1609 Healey Discov. New World i. v. 13 We beheld a tombe, which as far as I could guesse by the *weather-worne inscription conteined the bones of the Romane Apicius. 1827 Carlyle Germ. Lit. Misc. 1857 I. 48 The weather-worn sculptures of the Parthenon. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. i. i. (ed. 2) 8 Sark, somewhat the loftiest of the islands, is also the most weather-worn. |
d. with adjectives expressing imperviousness or power of resistance (to the weather), as
weather-free,
weather-resistant,
weather-resisting,
weather-tight,
weather-tough. Also
weather-resistance; weather-proof.
| 1648 G. Daniel Eclog ii. 6 Lambs, sooner wise then wee, Have got the Hedge, and now stand Weather-free. 1819 Byron Juan ii. xi, The dashing spray Flies in one's face, and makes it weather-tough. 1832 H. Martineau Ella of Garv. i. 10 If your honour would order the place down below to be made weather-tight for us. 1855 Poultry Chron. III. 388 Place a hen, with her brood, under a good weather⁓tight coop. 1894 Weather-resisting [see roofing (vbl.) n. 1 b]. 1902 A. Austin Haunts Anc. Peace 20 The cottages..looked solid, sturdy, and weather-tight. 1934 Archit. Rev. LXXVI. 16/1 Many years of use have proved the method satisfactory, both as a weather-resistant and as insulation. 1942 E. African Ann. 1941–2 98 (Advt.), Anti-rust paint.. durable, elastic, weather-resisting. 1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World iv. 117 Another property that makes both porcelain and glass insulators particularly suitable for high-voltage insulators is their weather-resistance. 1970 New Yorker 3 Oct. 27/2 You can bolt on anything from redwood to weather-resistant aluminum. |
7. Special comb.:
weather balloon, a balloon sent up to provide meteorological information, either by the course it takes or by means of instruments it carries;
† weather-basket, a wickerwork screen or covering to protect a plant;
weather-box = weather-house;
weather-brained a. = weather-headed;
weather bureau U.S., an agency (
spec. one established by the Government) which observes and reports on weather conditions;
† weather-caster, a weather-prophet;
weather centre, an office which provides weather information and analysis;
spec. in
U.K., part of the Meteorological Office;
weather clerk = clerk of the weather s.v. clerk n. 6 c;
weather-cloth Naut., a covering of canvas or tarpaulin used to protect boats, hammocks, etc., or to shelter persons from wind and spray;
weathercoat, a weather-proof coat, a raincoat;
weather-cord, a cord used as a hygrometer;
weather-cottage = weather-house;
weather cycle, a recurring pattern of weather or of some tendency in the weather;
weather-dog dial. [
dog n. 10]
= weather-gall;
weather-door, (
a) a louver-hole in a church steeple (
cf. louver 4,
quot. 1858); (
b)
Mining (see
quot.);
† weather-fan, a punkah;
weather-fane = fane n.1 2;
weather-fast a., secure against the weather;
weather-fence v. trans. = weather-fend;
weather-fish = thunder-fish b (
s.v. thunder n. 6);
† weather-flag, a vane;
weather-gleam,
-glim Sc. and
north. dial., clear sky near a dark horizon; also, the horizon;
weather-god, a god who presides over the weather;
weather-guard v. trans., to guard against bad weather;
weather-head dial., a secondary rainbow;
weather-hen jocular, a female weathercock; an inconstant woman;
weather-house, a toy hygroscope in the form of a small house with figures of a man and woman standing in two porches; by the varying torsion of a string the man comes out of his porch in wet weather and the woman out of hers in dry;
weather-line, the surface of an embedded timber just above the ground;
weather-maker, a weather-prophet; also
weather-making vbl. n.;
weather-man, (
a) one who observes the weather; now also
spec. one who presents a weather forecast on radio, television, etc.; (
b) (
freq. with capital initial and in
pl.) (a member of) a violent revolutionary group in the
U.S. (see
quot. 1970);
cf. Weather Underground below;
weather modification, the deliberate alteration of the weather in an area;
weather-monger, a weather-prophet;
weather-moulding Arch., a dripstone;
weather plane, an aeroplane designed to collect data on weather conditions at high altitudes;
† weather-plate, a plate marked with a scale for indicating the height of the mercury in a barometer;
† weather-prophecy Obs., the foretelling of the weather;
weather-prophet, one who foretells the weather; one who is weather-wise; also
fig.;
weather radar, radar used for meteorological investigations (
e.g. of rain);
† weather-rope (see
quot.);
weather satellite, a satellite especially equipped to observe weather conditions and to provide meteorological information;
weather-sharp U.S. colloq., a weather-prophet; an official meteorologist (
Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909);
weather ship, a ship serving as a weather station;
weather-sick a., sick of, suffering from, the weather;
weather-sign, a phenomenon that indicates change of weather; also
fig.;
† weather-skirt U.S. = safeguard n. 8;
weather-slated,
-slating (
cf. weather-tiled,
-tiling);
† weather-spar = weatherboard 2;
† weather-spy, a weather-prophet;
weather station, a meteorological observation post;
† weather-stone, a kind of stone classed according to its imperviousness to weather;
weather-strip orig. U.S., a strip of wood or rubber applied to a crevice in order to exclude rain and cold (Webster 1864); hence as
v. trans., to apply a weather-strip to (
Cent. Dict. 1891); hence
weather-stripped ppl. a.;
weather-stripping vbl. n., material used to weather-strip a door, window, etc.; the process of applying this;
weather-table Arch. = water-table 1 b;
weather-tile, a kind of tile used instead of weather-board to cover a wall;
weather-tiled ppl. a., covered with overlapping tiles;
weather-tiling vbl. n., the process or result of covering a wall with tiles;
weather-tree, the white poplar,
Populus alba;
Weather Underground, the revolutionary organization formed by the Weathermen (see above);
weather-vane = vane 1; also
fig.;
weather-wall, a wall serving as a shield from the weather;
weather-warning (see
quot.);
weather window Oil Industry, a brief interval in the year when the weather is calm enough to allow construction, loading, etc., operations to be carried out at sea;
weather-wiseacre nonce-wd., one who professes to be weather-wise;
† weather-wizard, a weather-prophet;
weather woman, (
a) (with capital initial) a female member of the revolutionary Weatherman organization; (
b) a woman who presents a weather forecast on radio or television;
† weather-works, devices to protect a ship from rough weather.
| 1940 War Illustr. 19 Jan. 614/3 (caption) Finnish soldiers are investigating weather conditions by sending up a *weather balloon. 1979 J. Gribbin Weather Force vii. 160 (caption) Russian scientists..prepare to launch a flock of weather balloons, which will radio back information about conditions in the atmosphere's lower levels. |
| 1699 L. Meager New Art Garden. 28 When they are Grafted they must be fenced, either with a *weather-basket, or some earthen Vessel. |
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair x, The elder and younger son of the house of Crawley were, like the gentleman and lady in the *weather-box, never at home together. |
| 1826 Scott Woodst. vii, But art thou not an inconsiderate *weather-brained fellow, to set forth as thou wert about to do, without any thing to bear thy charges..? 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. i. (1858) 10 There was a weather-brained tailor in the neighbourhood, who used to do very odd things, especially, it was said, when the moon was at the full. |
| 1871 Harper's Mag. Aug. 401/1 In the year 1857 Lieutenant M. F. Maury..appealed to the public and Congress, through the press, urging the establishment of a storm and *weather bureau. 1890 U.S. Statutes XXVI. 653 The civilian duties now performed by the Signal Corps of the Army shall hereafter devolve upon a bureau to be known as the Weather Bureau. 1950 Los Angeles Times 12 Feb. 1/4 Weather Bureau figures show that ·34 inch fell during the rainstorm. 1978 S. Sheldon Bloodline iv. 71 July turned out to be the rainiest month in the history of the French weather bureau. |
| 1607 Dekker Knt.'s Conjur. (1842) 9 The storme beeing at rest, what buying vp of almanacks was there to see if the *weather-casters had playd the doctors to a haire. |
| [1959 Times 19 Aug. 8/7 The Air Ministry Meteorological Office is to open a ‘weather shop’ where the public may call in person at the new home of the London forecasting office at Princes House, Kingsway.] 1961 A.A. Handbk. 17 ‘*Weather Centres’ staffed by the Meteorological Office are open in London, in Glasgow, and in Manchester. 1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon xiii. 185, I..went through the daily ritual of getting the weather forecast. This entailed 'phoning..the weather centre in London. |
| 1877 ‘Mark Twain’ New England Weather in Index (Boston) 11 Jan. 16/2 It must be raw apprentices in the *weather-clerk's factory who experiment and learn how in New England.., and then are promoted to make weather for countries that require a good article. 1898 H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 111, I wouldn't have a weather clerk inside of me for any thing. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxiv. 315 A sort of *weather-cloth, which..would certainly make her more comfortable in heavy weather. 1897 Outing XXIX. 547/1 A coil of rope for head-rest, a discarded sail for weather cloth. |
| 1897 J. L. Allen Choir Invisible x. 132 He got up at last and wrapped his *weather-coat about him. 1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 13/5 (caption), Real Harris tweed weathercoat. 1978 Sunday Times 21 May 1/6 (Advt.), A pure silk wrap-around weathercoat..to protect you from summer showers..{pstlg}165. |
| 1746 Phil. Trans. XLIV. 169 The *Weather-Cord is an Hygrometer of a very ancient Invention. |
| 1906 E. V. Lucas Wanderer in Lond. 170 One of the old *weather-cottages, with a little man and a little woman to swing in and out and foretell rain and shine. |
| 1930 Engineering 31 Jan. 148/2 Based upon a *weather cycle or period of almost fourteen years. |
| 1758 Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 17 There appeared in the North-East the frustum of a large rainbow... They call it here in Cornwall a *weather dog,..and pronounce it a certain sign of hard rain. 1865 R. Hunt Pop. Rom. W. Eng. (1881) 434 ‘Weather dogs’..are regarded as certain prognostications of showery or stormy weather. |
| 1753 F. Price Observ. Cathedral-Ch. Salisbury 40 The upper part of the Spire..just below the *weather Door. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Weather-door, a door in a level to regulate the ventilating current. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Poille,..also, an Vmbrello, or great *weather-fanne. |
| 1773 Phil. Trans. LXIV. 140 The *weather-fane which terminates the conductor. |
| 1910 J. Farnol Broad Highway i. xxiv, It was somewhat roughly put together, but still very strong, and seemed, save for the roof, *weather-fast. |
| a 1850 W. L. Bowles Poems, Sylph of Summer 466 Yon eastern downs, That *weather-fence the blossoms of the vale. |
| 1886 H. G. Seeley Freshw. Fishes Europe 248 In Germany and Austria it [Misgurnus fossilis] is regarded as a weather prophet, and sometimes is called the *Weather-fish, because it usually comes to the surface about twenty-four hours before bad weather, and moves about with unusual energy. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Girouette, a fane, or *weather-flag. |
| 1802 Sibbald Chron. S.P. Gloss., *Weddir-glim, clear sky, near the horizon; spoken of objects seen in the twilight or dusk; as ‘between him and the wedder-glim’. 1817 Blackw. Mag. Oct. 84/1 While..the weather-gleam of the eastern hills began to be tinged with the brightening dawn. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 185 Nae cloud owr-head the lift did dim, But i' the wastern weddir-glim A black up-castin'. |
| 1905 E. Clodd Animism §11. 58 Indra, the old Vedic *weather-god, has been completely elbowed out as an object of worship by special rain-gods. |
| 1885 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. I. 338/2 The pioneers attend to this work, trenching the ground, *weather-guarding the shelters. |
| a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, *Weather-head, the secondary rainbow. 1904 E. Rickert Reaper 318 The old folk watched for weatherheads and talked of storms. |
| 1632 Heywood 2nd Pt. Iron Age i. i. C 2, And now faire Troian *Weather-hen adew, And when thou next louest, thinke to be more true. 1899 B. Thomas & Granv. Barker (title), The Weather-Hen. |
| 1726 Post-Man 1–3 Sept. 2/2 Advt., The Gentlemen, Ladies and Farmers famous new invented *Weather Houses. 1784 Cowper Task i. 211 Peace to the artist, whose ingenious thought Devis'd the weather-house, that useful toy! 1800 Lathom Dash of Day i. i, He is always in bed when I am up, and I am always at rest, when he is stirring; our movements put me in mind of the man and woman in the Dutch weather-house. 1915 ‘Q’ (Quiller-Couch) Nicky-Nan xiii. 156 A man has no business to stand grimacing in his own doorway..like a figure in a weather-house. |
| 1830 R. Mudie Pop. Guide Observ. Nature 302 As little was the injury done at the ‘*weather-line’, just by the surface of the earth, where the durability of timber is put to the severest test. |
| 1888 E. D. Gerard Land beyond Forest II. 30 note, Instances of *weather-makers are also common in Germany. 1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Oct. 7/2 A weather-maker for an almanack got into conversation with a shepherd. |
| 1883 Stallybrass tr. Grimm's Teut. Mythol. III. 1152 The gift of prophecy and the art of *weather-making. |
| 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. 11. (Arb.) 152 Therefore in shootynge there is as muche difference betwixt an archer that is a good *wether man, and an other that knoweth and marketh nothynge, as is betwixte a blynde man and he that can se. 1901 Weather man [see hot wave s.v. hot a. 12]. 1944 Sun (Baltimore) 15 Nov. 11/2 Nobody ever gets anywhere telling the weatherman how to behave. 1952 W. Stevens Let. 26 June (1967) 757 It did not go below 85° in N.Y. last night according to the weather man. 1970 Guardian 28 Oct. 13/3 The Weathermen have been in existence for just over a year, since the SDS [sc. Students for a Democratic Society] split of June, 1969... The Weathermen got their name from a line in a Bob Dylan song: ‘You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’ 1971 Times 15 Jan. 12/6 Could this country have acquired an Anglicized offshoot of the American Weatherman—or Weathermen as these violent urban guerillas are less accurately but probably more widely known? 1979 R. Perry Bishop's Pawn i. 23 The West was agreed that the IRA, the Weathermen, the Red Army Faction..were composed of criminals, terrorists and murderers. 1983 Listener 14 July 17/3 We asked the weatherman, Jack Scott, to demonstrate some of those extraordinary regional variations for us. |
| 1951 U.S. Congr. Senate Committee Interior Hearings Apr. 152 *Weather modification on a small scale, such as protection against frost..is known to be possible. 1968 Times 1 Nov. 6/6 Russian research on methods of reducing damage to crops by hailstorms is being examined seriously in the United States, according to a National Science Foundation report on last year's activities in weather modification. 1977 Time 7 Mar. 55/1 The Governors also agreed to create a task force that could channel such requests for aid and coordinate weather-modification (cloud seeding) programs. |
| 1656 2nd Ed. New Alamanack 3 If the *weather-mongers rule hold true. 1911 J. G. Frazer Golden Bough: Magic Art (ed. 3) I. iv. 227 Wizards, doctors, weather-mongers, prophets. |
| 1841 Few Words to Churchwardens i. (Camb. Camden Soc.) 10 You may see what is called the *weather-moulding of the old roof remaining. a 1878 Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 165 A hollow projecting moulding containing the foliage, capped by a weather moulding. |
| 1962 Listener 18 Oct. 632/2 The ‘Coliseum of cloud’ that a *weatherplane captured for us. 1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 13 Dec. 7/2 Experts..identified it as a crashed weather plane which sends wind and temperature conditions from a height of 90,000 feet. |
| 1698 Derham in Phil. Trans. XX. 4 The *Weather-plates are to be put upon the Frame [of a portable barometer], by setting them to the same height, at which the Mercury stands in a common Barometer. |
| 1843 Mill Logic I. iii. iv. 389 The reliance on astrology, or on the *weather⁓prophecies in almanacs. |
| 1866 Steinmetz Weathercasts 7 The most successful *weather-prophet of modern times,..the late lamented Admiral Fitzroy. 1884 S. E. Dawson Handbk. Dom. Canada 4 The metaphors of political weather-prophets. |
| 1946 1st Technical Rep. Weather Radar Research (Mass. Inst. Technol. Dept. Meteorol.) (AD 54113) 3 (heading) *Weather-radar observations at M.I.T.'s Radiation Laboratory. 1979 Atmosphere-Ocean XVII. 78 The radar data were obtained from the McGill Weather Radar located just outside Montreal. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-ropes, an early term for those which were tarred. |
| 1960 Aeroplane XCIX. 90/2 After taking 22,952 photographs of the Earth's cloud cover, Tiros I, the World's first *weather satellite, has ended its useful life..after the satellite's electronics had suffered a failure. 1976 L. Deighton Twinkle, twinkle, Little Spy xi. 115 His factories make complicated junk for communications satellites... And there are weather satellites too. |
| 1884 Graphic 13 Dec. 610/3 The New York ‘*weathersharps’, who have to their westward some three thousand miles of land studded with signal stations. |
| 1946 Shell Aviation News No. 100. 6/3 A proposal by the Search and Rescue Committee that *weather ships should be maintained in the North Atlantic for meteorological observations. 1978 Nature 1 June 407/1 Following the withdrawal of US weatherships in 1973, it is the only regularly reporting deep ocean (3,000 m) station in the North Atlantic north of the tropics and south of 50° N. |
| 1757 Dyer in J. Duncombe Lett. (1773) III. 62, I think I never was so *weather-sick; the deep snows forbid me air and exercise. 1892 Meredith Ode to Comic Spirit Poems 1898 II. 222 A statue losing feature, weather-sick. |
| 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh ii. 691, I can tell The *weather-signs of love: you love this man. 1915 19th Cent. Jan. 190 His prophecies [about India] are perpetual, and he read the weather-signs at a glance. |
| 1903 A. M. Earle Two Cent. Costume Amer. II. 617 Another name for a safeguard was a *weather-skirt. |
| 1870 Lond. Society Sept. 266 A..house, *weather-slated from top to bottom. |
| 1859 Jephson Brittany xvi. 269 Buildings of lath and plaster, covered on the most exposed parts with *weather-slating. |
| 1632–3 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 698 The Windowes in y⊇ Roofe, to be of good Oake Timber, with *Wether sparrs handsomely wrought. |
| c 1595 Donne Sat. i. 59 And sooner may a gulling *weather Spie By drawing forth heavens Scheme tell certainly [etc.]. |
| 1895 Funk's Stand. Dict., *Weather station. 1953 Encounter Nov. 7/1 Japan gets its weather from China, but no weather reports—at least not until the Japanese experts again manage to break the code of the Chinese weather-stations. 1981 ‘E. Lathen’ Going for Gold vii. 87, I was on to the weather station... The forecasters are talking about the blizzard of the century. |
| 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 168 It being all of it good *weather⁓stone, but not enduring the fire. |
| 1847 Rep. Comm. Patents 1846 (U.S.) 94 One patent has been granted for improvement in fences, and another for a *weather strip for doors. 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 25 Oct. 6/6 (Advt.), Weather Strip—‘Stormproof’, 24 feet in box. 1970 K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobook xii. 143/2 The front windscreen and rear window are secured in place by a special weatherstrip. 1985 Times 19 July 13/4 In windy winter conditions the windloading presses the door up against the weatherstrip. |
| 1908 I. N. Stevens Liberators 8 The wind that shook the windows, *weather⁓stripped as they were, crept into the room. 1945 Nelson & Wright Tomorrow's House xiii. 147/2 A heavy flush door, weather-stripped,..would..reduce the direct transmission of sound. |
| 1942 Archit. Rev. XCI. 99/3 The windows are pine with aluminium *weatherstripping. 1959 ‘S. Ransome’ I'll die for You xii. 144 A part of the weather stripping was loose, and in a heavy rain it leaked. 1975 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 14 Nov. 2/5 As for weather⁓stripping, Mrs. Macdonald said their house doesn't need it because of extra insulation and double windows. |
| 1839 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 361/2 A weather fillet, or *weather table, which projects half an inch from the general face of the window. 1906 Antiquary Jan. 7/2 A weather-table on the north wall. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2568/2 Siding-tiles are sometimes called *weather-tiles. |
| 1887 J. J. Hissey Holiday on Road 230 A somewhat quaint little inn, having a *weather-tiled upper story. 1904 A. C. Benson House of Quiet iv, One wing is weather-tiled. |
| 1703 [R. Neve] City & C. Purchaser 286 *Weather-tyling..Is the Tyling, (or Covering with Tyles) the upright Sides of Houses. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §438 The weather-boarding may be covered..with what is called weather-tiling. |
| 1847 C. A. Johns Forest Trees I. 357 note, I think there will be rain,..for the *weather tree is shewing its white lining. |
| 1972 National Observer (U.S.) 27 May 10/2 The..‘*Weather Underground’, which boasts that it is responsible for so many of these bombings, is down to only 15 or 20 members now, according to sources in the House Internal Security Committee. 1982 H. Kissinger Years of Upheaval iv. 89 The terrorism of the Weather Underground. |
| 1721 Bailey, *Weather-vane. 1866 Le Fanu All in Dark x, The pointed gables, with stone cornices and glittering weather-vane on the summit. 1896 Tablet 1 Feb. 167 The Pall Mall Gazette even prefers to regard him as a Royal weather-vane. |
| 1838 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 235/1 A *weather wall in the centre will run the whole length [of the pier]. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-warning, the telegraphic cautionary warning given by hoisting the storm-drum on receiving the forecast. |
| 1974 Petroleum Rev. XXVIII. 787/1 The *weather-window is normally reckoned to last into September. 1983 Sunday Times 6 Mar. 69/4 It's been said that Esso's development of artificial islands has not merely opened the weather window further but ripped it off its hinges. |
| 1807 W. Irving Salmagundi (1824) 122 This is the universal remark among the..*weather-wiseacres of the day. |
| 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Ep. Ded. B 3 b, False Prophets, *Weather-wizards, Fortune-tellers. 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 23 Weather-wizzards, planet-prognosticators, and fortune-spellers! |
| 1971 Times 15 Jan. 12/7 Only one unconnected *Weatherwoman has since been traced. 1973 Daily Tel. 14 Dec. 3/3 BBC Television is to have its first weather woman. She is Miss Barbara Edwards,..who at present reads weather forecasts on radio. 1982 Times 28 May 9/3 Diana Arp..was from a very wealthy family and became a Weather woman, making bombs. |
| 1776 Cook 3rd Voy. i. iii. (1784) I. 34 The caulkers were set to work..to caulk the decks and inside *weather-works of the ship. |
8. Naut. Used
attrib. or as
adj. with the sense: Situated on the side which is turned towards the wind; having a direction towards the wind; windward; opposed to
lee,
leeward adjs.; as
weather-anchor,
weather-beam (
beam n.1 17),
weather-bowline,
weather-brace,
weather-division,
weather-earing,
weather-gangway,
weather-gun,
weather-leech,
weather-lift,
weather-lurch,
weather-port,
weather-quarter,
weather-rail,
weather-roll,
weather-sheet,
weather-shore,
weather-shrowd,
weather-spoke,
weather-tack,
weather-tide,
weather-topping-lift,
weather-wheel;
weather-bow, the bow that is turned towards the wind; hence as
v. trans., to turn the weather-bow to;
weather-deck, a deck exposed to the weather [
cf. G.
wetterdeck]; the uppermost unprotected deck, other than the forecastle, bridge and poop;
weather-dodger slang, a screen on the bridge of a ship, affording protection from the weather;
weather-gage,
-gauge (see
gauge n. 5); hence as
v. trans., to keep the weather-gage of;
weather-helm, a tendency in a ship under sail to come too near the wind, requiring the tiller to be kept constantly a little to windward;
weather-mark Sailing, a mark on a racing course towards which boats sail into the wind. Also
(to the) weatherward adv.| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-anchor, that lying to windward, by which a ship rides when moored. |
| 1790 Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. II. 140 Two sail..gave us chase and..kept on our *weather-beams till morning. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Weather-beam, a direction at right angles with the keel, on the weather side of the ship. |
| 1626 Capt. J. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 18 On the *weather bow. 1851 H. Melville Whale xvi. 80 Take a peep over the weather-bow..and tell me what ye see there. |
| 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxvi, We made but little by *weather-bowing the tide. |
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 18 Set in the Lee-Braces, and hawl forward by the *Weather Bowlines. |
| Ibid. 17 Let go the..Lee-Braces;..set in your *Weather Braces. 1762–9 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 308 The sheet and weather-brace they now stand by. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xxv[i], ‘A small pull of that weather main-top-gallant brace—that will do,’ said the master. |
| 1850 Rep. Committee in G. Moorsom Admeas. Tonnage (1853) 167 The Depth in Midships from the Underside of the *Weather Deck to the Ceiling at the Limber Strake. 1906 Attwood War-ships 46 Wood is now only used for weather decks [etc.]. 1908 Paasch From Keel to Truck (ed. 4) 75 Weather-deck, Term given to an upper deck on account of its exposure to the sun, rain and wind. |
| 1973 H. Gruppe Truxton Cipher (1974) xiii. 135 Tolley..disappeared down the weather-deck ladder. |
| 1920 Discovery Nov. 329/2 Nelson had intended his *weather division to be in line ahead. |
| 1924 R. Clements Gipsy of Horn v. 84 One was..in comparative comfort under the lee of the *weather-dodger. |
| 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iv, The first [sailor] on the yard goes to the *weather earing, the second to the lee, and the next two to the ‘dog's ears’. |
| 1834 Marryat P. Simple xiii, Walk this boy up and down the *weather gangway. |
| 1892 Field 2 July 30/3 Daffodil..was sufficiently far to windward to *weather-gauge her. |
| 1759 Ann. Reg. 120 We..run our *weather-guns out. |
| 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 126 *Weather, or Leeward Helm..may be fitted to promote or hinder the Sailing upon occasion. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 190 A screw ship carries more weather helm than a sailing ship. |
| 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xxv[i], The Aurora dashed through at the rate of eight miles an hour, with her *weather leeches lifting. 1899 F. T. Bullen Log of Sea-waif 279 The weather-leech of the lower stun' sails began to flap. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-lurch, a heavy roll to windward. |
| 1894 Outing XXIV. 36/2 The ‘Una’ turned the *weather-mark with a lead of nearly half an hour. 1963 Times 8 June 5/1 By the weather mark Andromeda was in front. |
| 1809 Sporting Mag. XXXIII. 127 A great sea poured through one of the *weather-ports. |
| 1626 Capt. J. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 19 Boord him on his *weather quarter. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 9 The Commodore being on the Weather-Quarter, bore down under our Lee, and spoke with us. 1834 M. Scott Cruise of Midge i. (1836) 16 The felucca was now within long pistol-shot of our weather-quarter. |
| 1888 E. J. Mather Nor'ard of Dogger 352 We had to hang on the *weather-rail, the seas rolling along like mountains. |
| 1815 Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Weather-Rolls, those inclinations which a ship makes to windward in a heavy sea. |
| a 1625 H. Manwayring Sea-mans Dict. (1644) 76 If the *weather-sheate be as farre as the Bulk⁓head. 1851 H. Melville Whale xiii. 67 The tremendous strain upon the main-sheet had parted the weather-sheet. |
| 1626 Capt. J. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 30 Come to an Anchor vnder the Ley of the *weather shore. 1697 J. Puckle New Dial. 16 A North-West Wind..makes Holland a Lee and England a Weather Shore. |
| a 1625 H. Manwayring Sea-mans Dict. (1644) 32 Then cutting the *weather shrowdes, the mast will instantly and without danger fall over boord. |
| 1849 Cupples Green Hand vi. (1856) 59, I looked to the wheel..as he coolly gave her half a *weather-spoke more. |
| 1883 Man. Seamanship Boys 56 Haul on the *weather-tack and lee-sheet. |
| 1815 Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Weather-Tide, denotes that which, by setting against a ship's lee-side, while under sail, forces her up to windward. |
| 1883 Man. Seamanship Boys 163 The fiddle-block is hooked to the *weather-topping lift. |
| 1557 Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 127 At night the Minion, and the pinnesse came vp to vs, but could not fetch so farre to the *weatherward as we, and therefore they ankered about a league a wether the castle. 1600 (25 Dec.) Adm. Ct. Exam. 34 (P.R.O.) [A ship] to the weatherward about a league. 1904 Dowden R. Browning 73 The boat veers weatherward. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Weather-wheel, the position of the man who steers a large ship, from his standing on the weather-side of the wheel. |
▪ II. weather, v. (
ˈwɛðə(r))
Forms: 5
wederyn, 5–7
wether, 6–
weather.
[f. weather n. OE. had
wedrian,
widrian,
wuderian,
ᵹewiderian, to be (good or bad) weather
= ON. viðra: see
weathering vbl. n. 1.
Cf. MHG. weteren (
mod.G.
wettern), to subject to wind and sun (
= sense 1 below),
witeren (
mod.G.
wittern) to storm, etc.; also
wither v.]
1. trans. To subject to the beneficial action of the wind and sun; to air.
a. Hawking (see
quot. 1856). Also
refl. and intr. in passive sense.
| 14.. in Harting Perf. Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) Introd. p. ix, For wetheringe yo{supr} hauke offer yo{supr} hauke water. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 134 When you haue kept hir two houres vpon the fist, then set hir in the Sunne to weather hir half an houre. c 1575 Perf. Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) 11 Set her to wether fastinge a longe tyme. Ibid. 14 In myste they will neuer wether, nor flye well. 1615 Markham Country Contentm. i. vii. 88 Then he shall bee sure to weather his Hawke abroad euery euening except on her bathing daies. 1773 J. Campbell Mod. Faulconry 191 Of Bathing and Weathering Hawks. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. iv. §5. 223/2 Hawks must also be weathered; that is to say, they should be put out on perches..in the open air, and then left..for many hours a-day, but not in the rain. |
| transf. 1590 Spenser Muiopotmos 184 And then he [the butterfly] pearcheth on some braunch thereby, To weather him, and his moyst wings to dry. 1596 ― F.Q. v. iv. 42. |
b. To air (linen, etc.); to dry thoroughly (a harvested crop).
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 519/2 Wederyn, or leyn or hangyn yn the wedyr, auro. 1530 Palsgr. 780/2, I wether a thyng, I lay it abrode in open ayre. Je ayre... It shall be well done to weather your garmentes in Marche for feare of mothes. a 1569 A. Kingsmill Man's Est. xii. (1574) F vj b, They may not flourish long: Euen as herbes that growe in the shadowe, neuer well weathered with the warme sunne. 1580 Tusser Husb. (1878) 129 Maides, mustard seede gather, for being too ripe, and weather it well. 1844 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 269 After reaping..the produce of the several plots was well weathered, and then thrashed. 1847 Halliwell, Weather, to dry clothes in the open air. 1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens xvii. 173 ‘Well, the stuff [cut reeds] is rather heava, ain't it?’ ‘It want to be weathered, bor.’ |
c. To expose (land, clay for brick- or tile-making) to the pulverizing action of the elements.
| 1548 [see weathering vbl. n. 3 b]. 1865 Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 5/4 The clay bank, where the raw material is stored and ‘weathered’. |
2. To change by exposure to the weather.
a. trans. To wear away, disintegrate, or discolour by atmospheric action. Const.
into,
to a specified form or condition. Chiefly in
pass. Also with
away. Also, to produce as an incrustation
on a surface by the action of the weather.
Spec. in
Geol.| 1757 tr. J. F. Henckel's Pyritol. v. 61 This leady clay..derived from a lead-ore, weathered and reduced to earth. Ibid. 87 On this sinter..we find glitter, iron and copper pyrites, not conveyed by streams of water, nor agglutinated, but weathered thereon, or produced by weather or damps. 1789 [see weathered ppl. a. 1]. 1833 Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 210 The face of the limestone is hollowed out and weathered into such forms as are seen in the calcareous cliffs of the adjoining coast. 1867 H. Macmillan Bible Teach. xiii. (1870) 267 The rain-cloud hangs low..overhead; the smoke hovers around; and they weather the finest sculptured surface. 1878 Ansted Water & Water Supply 89 It [sc. percolation] acts also very powerfully in weathering the rocks through which the water passes. 1918 H. Balfour in Man XVIII. 147 The nose either was not represented or has been weathered away. |
b. intr. To become worn, disintegrated, or discoloured under atmospheric influences. Const.
into,
to a specified condition.
to weather out: to become prominent or isolated by the decay or disintegration of the surrounding rock.
| 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingd. II. 20 The grey granite begins to weather or decompose. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxxiii. 441 The lower shale is here clearly seen beneath the limestone, and weathers to the same light ashen colour as in Salop. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. i. i. 7 Hard crystalline rock, decomposing or weathering by the constant action of the sea and weather. 1883 Ruskin Fors Clav. xcii. 207 The dark rock weathers easily into surface soil. 1885 Sir J. W. Dawson Egypt & Syria v. 112 The pillar⁓like masses of salt that weather out of the salt cliff of Jebel Usdum. 1914 Moir in Man XIV. 179 Those fragments of flint would in time, by thermal effects, ‘weather out’ and leave a clean-cut groove behind. |
c. In
pass.,
esp. of a crop: To be deteriorated by too long exposure to bad weather.
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 74 With feet nigh shoeless..And napless beaver, weather'd brown. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts III. 185 All barleys that have been weathered in the field..should be rigidly rejected [for malting]. |
d. intr. To wear (well or ill) under atmospheric influences.
| 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 436/2 For outside work, boiled oil is used, because it weathers better than raw oil. |
3. Naut. a. trans. To sail to the windward of (a point or headland, another ship, etc.).
| c 1595 Capt. Wyatt Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 18 Our carvell plyinge up into the winde weathered the saile which came from the shore. 1608 W. Hawkins in Hawkins' Voy. (Hakl. Soc.) 383 We lay close E.S.E. with a S.W. wynd, seeking to wether Socotora but could not. 1627 Capt. J. Smith Sea Gram. xii. 57 You cannot boord him except you weather him. 1660 N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. i. (1682) 170 When they have weather'd the Cape of Good-Hope. 1694 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 323 Not being able to weather the Lizard Point because of the strong south west wind. 1703 Burchett Mem. Trans. at Sea 141 Our Blue Squadron..by a shift of Wind had weather'd the French. 1801 Nelson in Nicolas's Disp. (1845) IV. 314 The Agamemnon could not weather the shoal of the middle, and was obliged to anchor. 1820 Scoresby Arctic Regions II. 476 An impervious mass of ice..which..we could neither weather, nor discover a passage through. 1878 D. Kemp Yacht & Boat Sailing 378/1 To weather is to pass on the windward side of an object. In cross tacking the vessel ‘weathers’ another that crosses ahead of her. |
b. fig. To get safely round; to get the better of.
| 1626 Donne Serm. xxi. (1640) 210 That soule which is but neare destruction, may weather that mischiefe. 1654 Whitelocke Swed. Ambassy (1772) I. 449 Butt, through mercy, he weathered this point also. 1708 Addison Pres. St. War 15 We have been tugging a great while against the Stream, and have almost weather'd our point. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxvii, Peter, read me about Jacob, and his weathering Esau with a mess of pottage. |
† c. To aim wide of (the mark) on the windward side.
Obs. rare— 1.
| 1588 Lucar Tartaglia's Colloq., Lucar Appendix 4 Euery Gunner ought to weather the marke according to the hardnes of the winde, and the distance. |
d. intr. to weather on or
weather upon: to gain upon in a windward direction; also
fig., to get the advantage of, take liberties with.
| c 1595 Capt. Wyatt Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 16 Some fowre leagues of, wee sawe a saile to weather on us. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 35 How well soever he can weather upon others, he is never able to fore-reach upon his Commander. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. iv. 163 We had both weathered and fore-reached upon her considerably. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xvii, How do you think the scoundrels weathered on me at last? 1836 Fraser's Mag. XIV. 475, I weathered upon my duty without discredit, my leisure without care, my liquor without quarrelling. 1863 Reade Hard Cash I. ix. 252 The other [pirate]..came up to weather on him and hang on his quarters, pirate fashion. 1881 Daily News 9 June 5/4 There is a triumph, too, which only a genuine yachtsman can feel when inch by inch a dreaded rival is weathered on. |
4. trans. a. Naut. To withstand and come safely through (a storm). Often with
out (also
absol.).
| 1673 Temple Observ. United Prov. viii. 255 Such old Sea⁓men in so strong a Ship that had weathered so many storms without loss. 1681 H. Nevile Plato Rediv. 22 [No more than] the Pilot and Marriners [are answerable] for not weathering out a Storm, when the Ship hath sprung a planck. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. vi. 62 Had they [the masts] weathered the preceding storm, it would have been impossible..to have stood against those..tempests we afterwards encountered. 1790 Cowper On Receipt of Mother's Pict. 89 As a gallant bark..(The storms all weather'd and the ocean cross'd) Shoots into port. 1819 Byron Juan ii. xli, But the ship labour'd so, they scarce could hope To weather out much longer. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiv. V. 204 In the port lay fleets of great ships which had weathered the storms of the Euxine and the Atlantic. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 135 To sell the boat—and yet he loved her well—How many a rough sea had he weather'd in her! 1866 R. M. Ballantyne Shifting Winds ii, She had sailed from the antipodes, had weathered many a gale. |
b. fig. or in
fig. context. To come safely through (a period of trouble, adversity, affliction, etc.); to sustain without disaster.
| 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. xvi. 192 He Weathered out the Raign of Queen Mary. 1671 Caryl Sir Salomon iv. 66 My designs of Revenge are vain, and unjust. I must pull down my Sailes to weather out this storme. 1674 Boyle Excell. Theol. i. iii. 95 Afflictions slight and short may well be weather'd out by these Philosophical Avocations. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 78 They value no such Puffs, if they can but weather a Beating. 1772 Mackenzie Man of World ii. xx, After having weathered so many disasters, I at last arrived near the place of my nativity. 1775 Jefferson Let. 4 July in H. S. Randall Life (1858) III. 568 If we can weather out this campaign, I hope that we shall be able to have a plenty [of gunpowder] made for another. 1787 Burns Let. Earl Glencairn Dec., My brother's farm is but a wretched lease, but I think he will probably weather out the remaining seven years of it. 1834 Creevey in C. Papers (1904) II. xii. 296 The Government..could not have weathered the session. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 623 They were..thrown into the shade by two younger Whigs,..who weathered together the fiercest storms of faction. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. xiv, Pa told me, only yesterday morning,..that he couldn't weather the storm. 1865 ― Lett. (1880) II. 242, I rather doubt..their being able to weather it out. 1885 Contemp. Rev. June 906 Their proprietors are less indebted and weather a crisis better. 1900 G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 143 The other weathered a serious illness and lived on for two or three years. |
c. gen. To pass through and survive (severe weather).
| 1680 Otway Orphan iv. i, The Beasts that under the Warm Hedges slept, And weather'd out the cold bleak Night, are up. 1742 T. Woodroofe in Hanway Acc. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea (1753) I. i. xvii. 113 We had weathered out the inclement season with as good spirits as could be expected in so bad a neighbourhood. 1785 Cowper Let. Lady Hesketh 9 Nov., Wks. 1835 I. 171, I began..to fear I should never be able to weather out the winter in so lonely a dwelling. 1795–6 Wordsw. Borderers i. 513 My husband, Sir, Was of Kirkoswald—many a snowy winter We've weathered out together. 1805 ― Waggoner iii. 80 Among these hills, from first to last, We've weathered many a furious blast. 1854 Thoreau Walden xiv. (1863) 275, I weathered some merry snow storms. |
† d. To take shelter from (a storm).
Obs.| 1742 Fielding J. Andrews ii. iii, They said there was a violent shower of rain coming on, which they intended to weather there [i.e. at an alehouse]. 1749 ― Tom Jones xii. viii, Partridge, with much earnest Entreaty, prevailed with Jones to enter, and weather the Storm. 1798 Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Winter 296 Beneath whose trunk I've weather'd many a show'r. |
5. intr. to weather along,
† to weather it on: to sail or make headway in spite of wind and weather. Also
to weather her way.
| 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe D 3, [All] that euer Yarmouth vnshelled or ingendred to weather it on till they lost the North-starre. 1836 W. Irving Life & Lett. (1866) III. 91, I have ever since made my calculations to ‘weather along’, as the sailors say, for some time to come, without any of the funds I have invested. 1881 J. K. Scott Galloway Glean. 14 See the ‘Press Home’ steerin' strecht for lan', Will she weather her way to the shore? |
6. trans. To set (the sails of a windmill) at the proper angle to obtain the maximum effect of the wind-force.
Cf. weather n. 4.
| 1745 Phil. Trans. XLIV. 1 All which Sails [of a water-wheel] are weathered in the same Manner as those designed for Windmills. 1759 Smeaton Ibid. LI. 144 Plain sails weather'd according to the common practice. 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 138 From which it appears that sails weathered in the Dutch manner produced nearly a maximum effect. |
7. Arch. To slope or bevel (a surface) so as to throw off the rain; to furnish (a wall, buttress) with a weathering or water-table.
| 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §860, 13 feet 6 inches oak wrought, framed, and weathered (beveled to throw off the wet). 1878 MacVittie Ch. Ch. Cathedral, Dublin 66 A plinth which is weathered in the depth of the buttresses by nine courses of Water-tables. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. II. 294/1 Fig. 391 shows the manner in which the sill is sloped off, or ‘weathered’. |
▪ III. weather obs. f. wether,
wither n.