weigh against

Related to weigh against: fall short, bent on, slink around, take their toll

weigh against (someone or something)

1. To compare the benefits and disadvantages of two things or options against one another in order to choose the best one. When deciding on a vacation, I always have to weigh how much I want to relax at the beach against how much I love exploring new, bustling cities. We'll weigh your proposal against the various other options open to us.
2. To have a negative effect or impact on someone's or something's reputation or evaluation. Your persistent tardiness will certainly weigh against you in your annual review. There are a number of factors weighing against the proposed legislation.
See also: weigh
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

weigh something against something

to ponder something by balancing it against something. I weighed going to town against staying here and sleeping and I decided to stay here. When I weigh your suggestion against my own ideas, I realize that I must follow my own conscience.
See also: weigh

weigh against someone or something

Fig. to count against someone or something; [for some fact] to work against someone or something. I hope my many absences do not weigh against me on the final grade. This will weigh against you.
See also: weigh
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

weigh against

v.
1. To compare something to something else in order to make a decision: When we weighed our decision against the alternatives, it was clearly the wrong choice.
2. To affect someone or something adversely in an evaluation: My poor test scores will weigh against me.
See also: weigh
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • drive (one) out of office
  • force (one) out of office
  • force out of office
  • give (one) (one's) head
  • give head
  • give somebody their head
  • give someone their head
  • cooking for one
  • 1FTR
  • as one door closes, another (one) opens
References in periodicals archive
A letter to Dudley Council said: "While the panel did not consider the local case strong enough to weigh against the very strong competition for the one regional casino they are pleased to consider your proposal further in the context of large and small casinos."
MPs demand casino inquiry; Decisions have not been transparent, and the highest standards of impartiality, integrity and objectivity have not been observed Conservative backbenchers
For it is Christ himself who will bear first all that evil can weigh against righteousness.
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany: January 30, 2005
Demographic factors weigh against a return to strong growth in sales of household goods in the medium- to long-term.
SINGAPORE'S SLIPPING HOUSEHOLD GOODS SALES
In every case, tenants will be well-positioned to make the right decision by paying close attention to the terms of the original lease while carefully examining their own needs and how they weigh against the potential financial benefits.
Steinhardt: Sublease space brings benefits, drawbacks
Camera movements weigh against occasional freeze-frames; Hill's voiceover weighs against his wife Karen's.
Goodfellas
Bentley was primarily responsible for preparation of the report.(1) Movements of the dollar against individual currencies diverged widely between November 1989 and January 1990--a period when the rapid opening up of Eastern Europe benefited the German mark and a number of factors continued to weigh against the Japanese yen.
Treasury and Federal Reserve foreign exchange operations
Additional factors that, if" present, will weigh in favor of equitable relief (but will not weigh against equitable relief if absent) include:
IRS further clarifies innocent spouse equitable relief