sight
nounverbcommon in dialogue
- //saɪt//
- //səɪt//
The ability to see.
noun
- 1
The ability to see.
He is losing his sight and now can barely read.
Thy sight is young, / And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle.
O loſs of ſight, of thee I moſt complain!
- 2
The act of seeing; perception of objects by the eye; view.
to gain sight of land
And when hee had spoken these things, while they beheld, hee was taken vp, and a cloud receiued him out of their sight.
- 3
Something seen.
He's a really remarkable man and it's very hard to get him in one's sights; […]
- 4
Something worth seeing; a spectacle, either good or bad.
We went to London and saw all the sights – Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, and so on.
You really look a sight in that ridiculous costume!
And Moses saide, I will nowe turne aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
They never saw a sight so fair.
- 5
A device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target.
- 6
A small aperture through which objects are to be seen, and by which their direction is settled or ascertained.
the sight of a quadrant
their eyes of fire sparking through sights of steel
- 7
a great deal, a lot; frequently used to intensify a comparative.
a sight of money
This is a darn sight better than what I'm used to at home!
"If your mother put you in the pit at twelve, it's no reason why I should do the same with my lad." "Twelve! It wor a sight afore that!"
- 8
In a drawing, picture, etc., that part of the surface, as of paper or canvas, which is within the frame or the border or margin. In a frame, the open space, the opening.
- 9
obsoleteThe instrument of seeing; the eye.
Why cloude they not their ſights perpetually,
- 10
Mental view; opinion; judgment.
In their sight it was harmless.
a very heinous Sin in the Sight of God
That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
Etymology
From Middle English sighte, from Old English sihþ (“something seen; vision”), from Proto-West Germanic *sihti (“seeing, sight”), equivalent to see + -t. Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian gazicht (“sight, vision; pupil”), Dutch gezicht (“face; sight, vision”), zicht (“sight, vision”), German Gesicht (“face; sight, vision”), Sicht (“view; sight; visibility”), Luxembourgish Gesiicht (“face”), Siicht (“view; sight”), Yiddish געזיכט (gezikht, “face”), Danish sigt (“sight; visibility”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk sikt (“visibility”), Swedish sikt (“visibility”), sikte (“sight”).
verb
- 1
To see; to get sight of (something); to register visually.
I was on my way to the door, but all at once, through the fog in my head, I began to sight one reef that I hadn't paid any attention to afore.
to sight land from a ship
- 2
To see; to get sight of (something); to register visually. To observe through, or as if through, a sight, to check the elevation, direction, levelness, or other characteristics of, especially when surveying or navigating.
Next a point of known elevation, preferably one of the triangulation stations, is sighted; the vertical angle is read and the horizontal distance is scaled from the point of the setup on the map to the point sighted.
- 3
To apply sights to; to adjust the sights of.
to sight a rifle or a cannon
- 4
To observe or aim (at something) using a (gun) sight.
Jim braced the gun and sighted, tried to pull the trigger. Beside him a body collapsed, limp. It was Max. A shot had gone through his brain. Jim stared down at him, numb with horror.
So I sighted the deer with my .30—30 and fired at him. The bullet hit about ten yards below the deer. I realized that I had a problem with the gun so I aimed about ten yards above the deer as he was running and he dropped dead on the [spot].
This buck was finally mine. I had spent hours shooting at moving targets with that rifle and there was no way I could miss. I raised my gun and sighted through the scope.
Forms
- plural
- sights
- past tense
- sighted
- past participle
- sighted
- present participle
- sighting
- third person singular
- sights