Dictionary

weir en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /wɛː/ East Anglia, cheer–chair merger
• /wiə/ (New-Zealand)
• /wɪɹ/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio
• /wiːɹ/ (Scotland)
• (General-American) audio
• /wɪə̯/ (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English were, from Old English wer, from werian (“to dam up”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover”); Cognate with Old Norse ver (“station for fishing”), Sanskrit वृणोति (vṛṇóti). Related to warranty.

Meanings

1. (countable) An adjustable dam placed across a river to regulate the flow of water downstream.
   • A walkway over the weir is likely to be useful for the removal of floating debris trapped by the weir, or for working staunches and sluices on it as the rate of flow changes. 2010, Sathesh Gopi, Basic Civil Engineering, page 303:
   • The weir must not represent a physical barrier to fish migration, both locally and throughout the whole river system. If necessary, a fishway is included in the weir. 1997, J. H. L'Abée-Lund, J. E. Brittain, “Weir construction as environmental mitigation in Norwegian hydropower schemes”, in Hydropower '97, pages 51–54:
   • Though Hambleden's parish register records the death, in 1753, of a bargeman 'Kill'd by accident, shooting ye lock', the turbulent waters of Mill End weir on the River Thames, about a mile from the village, still attract canoeists. 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 214, photo caption:
2. (countable) A fence placed across a river to catch fish.
   • The Taff is naturally a good salmon river, the Ely a sea trout river, but what with weirs and pollusions the fish have been pretty well exterminated. 1879, Annual Report of the Inspectors of Salmon Fisheries, page 65:
   • For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
   • The weir catch of mackerel at Monomoy and along Cape Cod has been a failure. 1887, W. A. Wilcox, “58-New England Fisheries in May, 1886”, in Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, volume VI, published 1886, page 191:
3. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Seaweed.

Forms

Coordinates

dam (adjustable dam) · sluice (adjustable dam)

Deriveds

Bridge of Weir · Porlock Weir · wasteweir · lock-weir · unweired · leaky weir · Weir Views · weired · Countess Wear

Relateds

Weirs Beach

Translations (68)

mi ahuriri (fence to catch fish) · gv stangey (adjustable dam) · pl jaz (adjustable dam) · nl weer (adjustable dam) · gd eileach (fence to catch fish) · nn overløp (adjustable dam) · ar هَدَّار (adjustable dam) · tyz ben (adjustable dam) · sv regleringsdamm (adjustable dam) · haw pākolokolo (adjustable dam) · bg яз (fence to catch fish) · fi ylivuotopato (adjustable dam) · cy cored (fence to catch fish) · mi ahuriri (adjustable dam) · sk hať (adjustable dam) · ja 堰 (adjustable dam) · fi säännöstelypato (adjustable dam) · es compuerta (adjustable dam) · et kalatõke (fence to catch fish) · gl caneiro (fence to catch fish) · gl canal (fence to catch fish) · mk далјан (fence to catch fish) · nsk ᓄᑕᒧᐛᓐ (fence to catch fish) · vi đăng (adjustable dam) · es pesquera (fence to catch fish) · mi rauwiri (fence to catch fish) · fr écrille (fence to catch fish) · fi kalapato (fence to catch fish) · fr bordigue (fence to catch fish) · pl jaz (fence to catch fish) · cy cored (adjustable dam) · de Wehr (adjustable dam) · fr seuil (adjustable dam) · ja 梁漁 (fence to catch fish) · gd eileach (adjustable dam) · unm ahkwënikàn (fence to catch fish) · cs jez (adjustable dam) · mi rauiri (fence to catch fish) · zlw-osk jaz (adjustable dam) · nl visweer (fence to catch fish) · nn overlaup (adjustable dam) · de Fischwehr (fence to catch fish) · bg прели́вник (adjustable dam) · mic nisaqan (adjustable dam) · fa ورغ (adjustable dam) · nl stuw (adjustable dam) · gd cairidh (adjustable dam) · nb demning (adjustable dam) · es vertedero (adjustable dam) · it stramazzo (adjustable dam) · es aliviadero (adjustable dam) · ga cora (adjustable dam) · pt comporta (adjustable dam) · th ฝาย (adjustable dam) · es corral de pesca (fence to catch fish) · gu આડબંધ (adjustable dam) · da overløb (adjustable dam) · eo vejro (adjustable dam) · es represa pesquera (fence to catch fish) · gd cairidh (fence to catch fish) · gl comporta (adjustable dam) · ru водосли́в (adjustable dam) · pt caniçado (fence to catch fish) · mk каскадна брана (adjustable dam) · nl overlaat (adjustable dam) · ca resclosa (adjustable dam) · nb overløp (adjustable dam) · it cateratta (adjustable dam)

weir en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /wɛː/ East Anglia, cheer–chair merger
• /wiə/ (New-Zealand)
• /wɪɹ/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio
• /wiːɹ/ (Scotland)
• (General-American) audio
• /wɪə̯/ (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English were, from Old English wer, from werian (“to dam up”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover”); Cognate with Old Norse ver (“station for fishing”), Sanskrit वृणोति (vṛṇóti). Related to warranty.

Meanings

1. To put a weir, or weirs (in a river)

Forms