tip the scale

verb

To change the fortunes, either positively or negatively.

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Meanings

verbtip the scale (third-person singular simple present tips the scale, present participle tipping the scale, simple past and past participle tipped the scale)

present singular third person tips the scale · participle present tipping the scale · participle past tipped the scale · past tipped the scale · alternative tip the scales

  1. idiomaticintransitiveTo change the fortunes, either positively or negatively.

    The priest went on to say that God tipped the scales in favor of hope "through the resurrection of our crucified divine brother Jesus."

    2007, Melannie Svoboda, In Steadfast Love: Letters on the Spiritual Life, page 122
  2. idiomaticintransitiveTo weigh (have a certain weight).

    was kindly called to account by the good doctor when her nine-months'-old baby tipped the scales at barely twelve pounds.

    1917, Mabel Thorp Boardman, Under the Red Cross flag at home and abroad, page 190
Cite this entry
APA

tip the scale. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tip%20the%20scale

MLA

“tip the scale.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tip%20the%20scale. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tip the scale,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tip%20the%20scale.

Source: tip the scale on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.