sight
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English siȝht, siȝt, siht, from Old English siht, sihþ (“something seen; vision”), from Proto-West Germanic *sihti, equivalent to see + -th. Cognate with Scots sicht, Saterland Frisian Sicht, West Frisian sicht, Dutch zicht, German Low German Sicht, German Sicht, Danish sigte, Swedish sikte.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
sight (countable and uncountable, plural sights)
- (in the singular) The ability to see.
- He is losing his sight and now can barely read.
- c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 12, line 67:
- O loſs of ſight, of thee I moſt complain!
- The act of seeing; perception of objects by the eye; view.
- to gain sight of land
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 1:9:
- And when hee had spoken these things, while they beheld, hee was taken vp, and a cloud receiued him out of their sight.
- Something seen.
- 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 236d:
- He's a really remarkable man and it's very hard to get him in one's sights; […]
- (often in the plural) 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!
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 3:3:
- And Moses saide, I will nowe turne aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, Prothalamion:
- They never saw a sight so fair.
- (often in the plural) A device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target.
- A small aperture through which objects are to be seen, and by which their direction is settled or ascertained.
- the sight of a quadrant
- c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- their eyes of fire sparking through sights of steel
- (now colloquial) 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!
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 2, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
- "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!"
- 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.
- (obsolete) The instrument of seeing; the eye.
- c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- Why cloude they not their ſights perpetually,
- Mental view; opinion; judgment.
- In their sight it was harmless.
- 1720, William Wake, Principles of the Christian Religion in a Commentary on the Church Catechism:
- a very heinous Sin in the Sight of God
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 16:15:
- That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
Synonyms edit
- (ability to see): sense of sight, vision
- (something seen): view
- (aiming device): scope, peep sight
Derived terms edit
- a damn sight
- a fuck sight
- at first sight
- at short sight
- at sight
- at the sight of
- bill of sight
- bore sight
- by sight
- can't stand the sight of
- catch sight of
- day-sight
- eye sight
- far sight
- far-sighted
- foresight
- globe sight
- heave in sight
- heave into sight
- hidden in plain sight
- hide in plain sight
- hindsight
- in one's sight
- in plain sight
- insight
- in sight
- keep sight of
- leaf sight
- line-of-sight
- line of sight
- long sight
- long-sighted
- lose sight of
- love at first sight
- mouse-sight
- near sight
- near-sighted
- not a pretty sight
- nowhere in sight
- old sight
- on sight
- out of one's sight
- out of sight
- out of sight, out of mind
- out of sight is out of mind
- outsight
- outta sight
- oversight
- point of sight
- second sight
- short sight
- short-sighted
- sight bite
- sight cheque
- sight draft
- sight for sore eyes
- sightful
- sight gag
- sight glass
- sight in
- sightless
- sightly
- sight radius
- sight-read
- sight read
- sight-reader
- sight rhyme
- sight-seeing
- sight sing
- sight to behold
- sight-translate
- sight translation
- sight triangle
- sight unseen
- sightwise
- sight word
- slant sight
- take a sight
- telescopic sight
Translations edit
eyesight — see eyesight
something seen
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something worth seeing
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device used in aiming a firearm
|
Verb edit
sight (third-person singular simple present sights, present participle sighting, simple past and past participle sighted)
- (transitive) To see; to get sight of (something); to register visually.
- 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
- 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
- (transitive) To observe though, or as if through, a sight, to check the elevation, direction, levelness, or other characteristics of, especially when surveying or navigating.
- 1912, John Herbert Farrell, Alfred Joseph Moses, Practical Field Geology, page 30:
- 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.
- (transitive) To apply sights to; to adjust the sights of.
- to sight a rifle or a cannon
- (transitive, intransitive) To observe or aim (at something) using a (gun) sight.
- 2005 August 2, C. J. Cherryh, The Deep Beyond, Penguin, →ISBN:
- 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.
- 2009, James Wright, FBI: Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity : an Autobiography, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 27:
- 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].
- 2010 October 6, Bryce M. Towsley, Gunsmithing Made Easy: Projects for the Home Gunsmith, Skyhorse Publishing Inc., →ISBN:
- 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.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
see, get sight of, visually register
|
take aim at
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See also edit
Anagrams edit
Middle English edit
Noun edit
sight
- a great deal, a lot
- c. 1386–1390, John Gower, edited by Reinhold Pauli, Confessio Amantis of John Gower: Edited and Collated with the Best Manuscripts, volumes (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Bell and Daldy […], published 1857, →OCLC:
- A nombre of twenty sterres bright,
Which is to sene a wonder sight- (please add an English translation of this quotation)