avoirdupois

Definitions

  • WordNet 3.6
    • n avoirdupois excess bodily weight "she disliked fatness in herself as well as in others"
    • n avoirdupois a system of weights based on the 16-ounce pound (or 7,000 grains)
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • Avoirdupois Avoirdupois weight.
    • Avoirdupois Goods sold by weight.
    • Avoirdupois Weight; heaviness; as, a woman of much avoirdupois .
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • n avoirdupois A system of weight in which one pound contains 16 ounces. It was introduced into England from Bayonne about a. d. 1300, and is substantially the Spanish system. In avoirdupois weight 7,000 troy grains (formerly, and now in the United States, approximately, but in Great Britain exactly) make a pound, while in troy weight the pound contains 5,760 grains, the grain being the same in both cases; hence, 175 pounds troy are equal to 144 pounds avoirdupois. The pound avoirdupois is the standard weight of Great Britain, and is equal to 453.6 grams in the French metric system. Avoirdupois weight is used in determining the weights of all commodities except gems and the precious metals. It is reckoned as follows: Cwt.Qrs.Pounds.Ounces.Drams. 1 ton= 20= 80= 2240= 35840= 573440 1 hundred weight= 4= 112= 1792= 28672 1 quarter= 28= 448= 7168 1 pound= 16= 256 1 ounce= 16 In the United States the hundredweight is now commonly 100 pounds, and the ton 2,000 pounds, called the short ton in distinction from the long ton of 2,240 pounds.
    • n avoirdupois The weight of anything according to the avoirdupois system: as, his avoirdupois was 150 pounds.
    • n avoirdupois Also written averdupois, and often abbreviated to avoir. and avdp.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • adj., n Avoirdupois av-or-dū-poiz′ a system of weights in which the lb. equals 16 oz.
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Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
OE. aver de peis, goods of weight, where peis, is fr. OF. peis, weight, F. poids, L. pensum,. See Aver (n.), and Poise (n.)
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
O. Fr. aveir de pes (avoir du pois), to have weight—L. hab-ēre, to have, pensum, that which is weighed.

Usage

In literature:

To get rid of superfluous avoirdupois is one of the necessary steps to beauty.
"The Art of Stage Dancing" by Ned Wayburn
To convert grammes into ounces avoirdupois x 0.03527.
"The Elements of Bacteriological Technique" by John William Henry Eyre
To take and hold such an enviable position as this woman held needs, I think, an excess of avoirdupois.
"Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 6, July 1905" by Various
Stones have been taken out of the stomach of an ostrich each weighing more than a pound avoirdupois!
"The Giraffe Hunters" by Mayne Reid
It is not equal to the grain avoirdupois, but is one fourth of a diamond carat.
"A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public" by Frank Bertram Wade
This abrupt removal of weight from one end, and large increase of avoirdupois at the other, produced a natural but very surprising result.
"The Young Surveyor;" by J. T. Trowbridge
Celery-seed bruised, half an ounce, avoirdupois weight.
"The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual" by William Kitchiner
The weight of the cylinder was 113.13 pounds avoirdupois.
"Little Masterpieces of Science:" by Various
Miss Bebe Herne, though having fifty pounds the advantage of any of the others in avoirdupois, was the first seated.
"Blue-grass and Broadway" by Maria Thompson Daviess
Those who, by reason of a lack of avoirdupois, were less firmly attached to the ground, were lifted bodily.
"Walter Pieterse" by Multatuli
To prepare the solution take 1 pound (avoirdupois) of pure bluestone, powder it fine, and dissolve in 9-1/2 gallons of warm water.
"Special Report on Diseases of Cattle" by U.S. Department of Agriculture
If he acquires a superabundance of avoirdupois he is in danger of apoplexy.
"How to Analyze People on Sight" by Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict
He did not gain one single pound avoirdupois however, which may perchance seem strange, but is the most natural thing in the world.
"Devil Stories" by Various
It was as heavy metaphorically as it was in avoirdupois.
"The Galaxy, June 1877" by Various
According to our estimate a shekel was about 0.3 of an avoirdupois ounce.
"The Bible Story" by Rev. Newton Marshall Hall
But they've got bored with me because I always unhesitatingly go two pounds better than the biggest juggler of avoirdupois present.
"Sinister Street, vol. 2" by Compton Mackenzie
AS, a Roman weight of 12 ounces, answering to the libra or pound, and equal to 237.5 grains avoirdupois, or 327.1873 grammes French measure.
"The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 2" by Various
He's a big man and jolly in every pound of his avoirdupois.
"Ross Grant Tenderfoot" by John Garland
Her avoirdupois, also, was getting rather out of hand, despite constant attention to massage and sporadic attempts at dieting.
"Why Joan?" by Eleanor Mercein Kelly
Then, when the woman with the excess of avoirdupois came out, the boy stepped up to Dorothy.
"Dorothy Dale's Great Secret" by Margaret Penrose
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In poetry:

Alas and alack, when we got the skin back
She looked big round the Avoirdupois-so,
We looked and we found she'd the skin wrong way round,
Now she has to sit down on her torso!
"The Foreign Legion" by Billy Bennett

In news:

Grappling with all the avoirdupois I packed on during the holidays.
lajollalight.com
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Related words