tip the scales
Be the decider
To tip the scales is to be the deciding factor that shifts a balanced situation one way or the other: Her endorsement tipped the scales in his favor.
The image comes from a balance scale where adding weight to one side causes it to drop.
To tip the scales at a certain weight means to weigh that amount: He tips the scales at 220 pounds.
Rock back and forth
- determineEstablish through investigation
- decideReach a conclusion
- shiftMovement or work period
- tiltAngular deviation from level
tip · affect · impact · alter · change · swing · move · nudge
Quick to conclude
- pivotalVitally important, deciding
- crucialOf supreme importance
- watershedDrainage area boundary
- game-changerSomething transforming everything
breakthrough · catalyst · momentous · critical · key · defining · make-or-break · clincher
sway
Rock back and forth
tilt · tip · affect · impact · alter · change · swing · move · nudge · push
decisive
Quick to conclude
game-changer · breakthrough · catalyst · momentous · critical · key · defining · make-or-break · clincher · inflection
verdict
Official court decision
fairness · weigh · deliberation · adjudication · evidence · testimony · jury · court · favor · against
weigh
Determine mass or ponder
light · mass · calibrate · register · read · dial · needle · notch · mark · over
- power idiomspull strings, hold sway, call the shots, throw weight around, power play
tip the scalesbalance out
Counteract to achieve parity
neutralize · hold steady · cancel out · counterbalance · offset
tip the scalesabstain
Deliberately not do
stand pat · do nothing · hedge · waffle · equivocate
scale, balance, tips, scales, tipped, tipping, scaling, scaled, scalable