welter weight
[welter n.3]
1. † a. Heavy weight (of a horseman). Obs. rare.
| 1825 Sporting Mag. XVI. 280 He was always well mounted for his welter weight. |
b. A heavy-weight rider.
| 1832 Q. Rev. XLVII. 240 ‘Out upon this great carcass of mine,’ says one of the best of the welter-weights. 1850 ‘H. Hieover’ Pract. Horsemanship 191 A horse belonging to a friend, a welter weight. 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 344 A welter weight never went better to hounds in a fast run. 1897 Daily News 12 Mar. 3/4 Horses equal to carrying a welter-weight of fifteen stone or more. |
c. Horse-racing. An extra weight sometimes imposed in addition to weight for age.
| 1880 W. Day Racehorse in Training 201 They have..added to other improvements the introduction of welter⁓weights; so that it only requires a little alteration—more long races with heavy weights, and fewer short courses with light weights—to complete the reform. |
2. A boxer or wrestler whose weight is between that of a light-weight and a middle-weight. Also attrib.
| 1896 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 3 Oct. 3/1 Welterweight champion of California. 1903 Daily Chron. 19 Sept. 3/3 Not even an indomitable spirit will bring a bantam-weight and a welter-weight together. 1910 Encycl. Brit. IV. 351/2 The boxing rules of the American Amateur Athletic Association differ slightly from the British... The recognized classes by weight are: Bantam,..Feather,..Light,..Welter, 145 lb and under; Middle..and Heavy. |