Sight
Origin
Old English sihþ ("something seen").
Full definition of sight
Noun
sight
(countable and uncountable; plural sights)- (in the singular) The ability to see.
- ShakespeareThy sight is young,
And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle. - MiltonO loss of sight, of thee I most complain!
- The act of seeing; perception of objects by the eye; view.to gain sight of land
- Bible, Acts i. 9A cloud received him out of their sight.
- Something seen.
- 2005, Lesley Brown (translator), Plato (author), Sophist, :
- He's a really remarkable man and it's very hard to get him in one's sights; ...
- Something worth seeing; a spectacle.You really look a sight in that silly costume!
- Bible, Exodus iii. 3Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
- SpenserThey never saw a sight so fair.
- 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
- Shakespearetheir eyes of fire sparking through sights of steel
- (now colloquial) a great deal, a lot; frequently used to intensify a comparative.a sight of moneyThis is a darn sight better than what I'm used to at home!
- Gowera wonder sight of flowers
- 1913, D. H. Lawrence, ,"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.
- ShakespeareWhy cloud they not their sights?
- Mental view; opinion; judgment.In their sight it was harmless.
- Bible, Luke xvi. 15That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
Synonyms
- (ability to see) sense of sight, vision
- (something seen) view
- (aiming device) scope, peep sight
Derived terms
Verb
- (transitive) To register visually.
- (transitive) To get sight of (something).
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 4, 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 apply sights to; to adjust the sights of; also, to give the proper elevation and direction to by means of a sight.to sight a rifle or a cannon
- (transitive) To take aim at.