Word.ws English Dictionary

under weigh

under weigh adverb: underway.

Adverb

under weigh (not comparable)

  1. Underway.
    • The last affecting adieu having been given, the General prolonged his stay to see the vessel under weigh: as it spread its sails, he viewed it glide down the Thames with feelings such as those alone experience who part from a much-loved relative, about to be divided by interminable waters.1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XXI, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 273
    • But then, the idea was, that his presence was by no means necessary in getting the ship under weigh, and steering her well out to sea.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

Examples of under weigh in a sentence

  • Scarcely had we got things fixed and supper under weigh, when a yell from Boteler, 'He's going to spout!' caused us to drop teapot and pannikin, and tumble out of the tent in half no time.1876, Earl of Dunraven, The Great Divide: Travels in the Upper Yellowstone in the Summer of 1874, London: Chatto and Windus, page 265:
  • Suddenly the Syracusans manned their ships and again bore down upon them; the Athenians, in great disorder and most of them fasting, hurried on board, and with considerable difficulty got under weigh.1883, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides, Boston, D. Lothrop:

Origin of under weigh

Variant form of underway, by association with weigh anchor.

Questions about under weigh

What does under weigh mean?
Under weigh means underway.
How do you use under weigh in a sentence?
Scarcely had we got things fixed and supper under weigh, when a yell from Boteler, 'He's going to spout!' caused us to drop teapot and pannikin, and tumble out of the tent in half no time.
What part of speech is under weigh?
Under weigh is an adverb.

Words near under weigh in the dictionary

  1. under the wire
  2. under the yoke
  3. under tow
  4. under water
  5. under way
  6. under weigh
  7. under wraps
  8. under-
  9. under-accommodate
  10. under-accommodated
  11. under-accommodates

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: under weigh (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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