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avoirdupois

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avoirdupois


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Avoirdupois  \Av`oir*du*pois"\  ([a^]v`[~e]r*d[-u]*poiz"),  n.  &  a. 
  [OE.  aver  de  peis,  goods  of  weight,  where  peis  is  fr  OF 
  peis  weight,  F.  poids  L.  pensum  See  {Aver},  n.,  and 
  {Poise},  n.] 
  1.  Goods  sold  by  weight.  [Obs.] 
 
  2.  Avoirdupois  weight. 
 
  3.  Weight;  heaviness;  as  a  woman  of  much  avoirdupois. 
  [Colloq.] 
 
  {Avoirdupois  weight},  a  system  of  weights  by  which  coarser 
  commodities  are  weighed,  such  as  hay,  grain,  butter, 
  sugar,  tea. 
 
  Note:  The  standard  Avoirdupois  pound  of  the  United  States  is 
  equivalent  to  the  weight  of  27.7015  cubic  inches  of 
  distilled  water  at  62[deg]  Fahrenheit,  the  barometer 
  being  at  30  inches,  and  the  water  weighed  in  the  air 
  with  brass  weights.  In  this  system  of  weights  16  drams 
  make  1  ounce,  16  ounces  1  pound,  25  pounds  1  quarter,  4 
  quarters  1  hundred  weight,  and  20  hundred  weight  1  ton. 
  The  above  pound  contains  7,000  grains,  or  453.54  grams, 
  so  that  1  pound  avoirdupois  is  equivalent  to  1  31-144 
  pounds  troy.  (See  {Troy  weight}.)  Formerly,  a  hundred 
  weight  was  reckoned  at  112  pounds,  the  ton  being  2,240 
  pounds  (sometimes  called  a  long  ton). 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  avoirdupois 
  n  1:  a  system  of  weights  based  on  the  16-ounce  pound  (or  7,000 
  grains)  [syn:  {avoirdupois  weight}] 
  2:  excess  bodily  weight;  "she  found  fatness  disgusting  in 
  herself  as  well  as  in  others"  [syn:  {fatness},  {fat}] 
  [ant:  {leanness}] 




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