View synonyms for bight

bight

[ bahyt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

bight

/ baɪt /

Bight

the Bight informal.
the major indentation of the S coast of Australia, from Cape Pasley in W Australia to the Eyre Peninsula in S Australia In fullthe Great Australian Bight

bight

/ bīt /

A long, gradual bend or curve in a shoreline. A bight can be larger than a bay, or it can be a segment of a bay.

Origin of bight¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English byght, Old English byht “bend, bay”; cognate with Dutch bocht, German Bucht; akin to bow ¹

Origin of bight¹

Old English byht ; see bow ²

Humans, however, are rarely seen—the Bight is more than man can chew...

Harry had already made a bowline in a bight at the end of a line.

Toggle: A pin placed through the bight or eye of a rope to secure it round a stay, mast, etc.

Peaks, on the main topmast-stay, caught Howe in the very act of passing the gasket through the bight of the buntline.

I was deep in the bottle-neck bight of the sands, jammed on a lee shore, and a strong flood tide sweeping me on.

Reaching the rope over his head, he went up, hand over hand, till he had slack enough to make a bight for one of his feet.

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