carry weight
(redirected from carry authority)Also found in: Legal.
carry (an amount of) weight
To wield importance or influence. Due to your status, your remarks carry a lot of weight, so I encourage you to speak out on this issue—people might finally start taking it seriously. Without research to support these claims, I'm afraid they don't carry much weight.
carry (one's) weight
To do one's part. To fulfill one's responsibilities. I know I've been sick, but I'll carry my weight on the project, don't worry.
carry (a lot of) weight (with someone or something)
Fig. to be very influential with someone or some group of people. Your argument does not carry a lot of weight with me. The senator's testimony carried a lot of weight with the council.
carry one's (own) weight
and pull one's (own) weightFig. to do one's share; to earn one's keep. (The weight is the burden that is the responsibility of someone.) Tom, you must be more helpful around the house. We each have to carry our own weight. Bill, I'm afraid that you can't work here anymore. You just haven't been carrying your weight.
carry weight (with someone)
Fig. to have influence with someone; [for an explanation] to amount to a good argument to use with someone. That carries a lot of weight with the older folks. What you say carries no weight with me.
carry weight
Also, carry authority or conviction . Exert influence, authority, or persuasion, as in No matter what the President says, his words always carry weight. Shakespeare combined two of these expressions in Henry VIII (3:2): "Words cannot carry authority so weighty." [c. 1600]
carry weight
COMMON If a person or their opinion carries weight, they are respected and are able to influence people. Not only do men talk more, but what they say often carries more weight. El Tiempo is Colombia's leading newspaper and its opinions carry considerable weight in the country.