noun
- a boxer or other contestant intermediate in weight between a bantamweight and a lightweight, especially a professional boxer weighing up to 126 pounds (57 kg).
- an insignificant person or thing: He thinks he’s a major composer, but he’s just a featherweight.
adjective
- belonging to the class of featherweights, especially in boxing.
- extremely light in weight: a featherweight quilt.
- unimportant; trifling; slight.
noun
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- something very light or of little importance
- (as modifier)featherweight considerations
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- a professional boxer weighing 118–126 pounds (53.5–57 kg)
- an amateur boxer weighing 54–57 kg (119–126 pounds)
- (as modifier)the featherweight challenger
- a wrestler in a similar weight category (usually 126–139 pounds (57–63 kg))
also feather-weight, the lightest allowable, 1812 (earlier as simply feather, 1760), from feather (n.) + weight. Originally in horse-racing; boxing use dates from 1889.