Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Avoirdupois
Avˊoir-du-pois′
(ăvˊẽr-dū̍-poiz′)
, Noun.
& Adj.
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.
☞ The standard Avoirdupois pound of the United States is equivalent to the weight of 27.7015 cubic inches of distilled water at 62° 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). Webster 1828 Edition
Avoirdupois
AVOIRDUPOIS'
,Noun.
A weight, of which a pound contains 16 ounces. Its proportion to a pound Troy is as 17 to 14. this is the weight for the larger and coarser commodities, as hay, iron, cheese, groceries, &c.