Weigh in is an idiom that dates back decades. We will examine the meaning of the common idiom weigh in, where it came from, and some examples of its idiomatic usage in sentences.
Weigh in is an idiom that means to bring one’s influence to bear in a discussion or argument. The idiom weigh in first came into use in the 1880s to mean to present something significant; by the first decade of the 1900s, the idiom weigh in came to mean to bring one’s influence to bear or to make a knowledgeable contribution to a discussion or argument. The expression comes from the sport of horse racing, where a jockey must weigh in. Related terms are weighs in, weighed in, weighing in. Weigh in is a verbal phrase that may also may be taken literally. Do not confuse the idiom weigh in with the hyphenated compound word, weigh-in, which is a noun that means the act of being weighed in preparation for an athletic contest or boarding a flight.
Examples
School funding plaintiffs ask NC Supreme Court to weigh in (Durham Herald Sun)
The public will have a chance to weigh in on two conditional district rezoning requests during public hearings scheduled for Monday. (Daily Reflector)
Citizens weigh in as Toledo continues to seek answers for homicide rate (Toledo Blade)
Check out some of the idioms we’ve covered: