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sight

[sahyt]

Example Sentences Origin

noun

the power or faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision.

an act, fact, or instance of seeing.

one's range of vision on some specific occasion: Land is in sight.

a view; glimpse.

mental perception or regard; judgment.

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something seen or worth seeing; spectacle: the sights of London.

Informal. something unusual, surprising, shocking, or distressing: They were a sight after the fight.

Commerce.

presentation of a bill of exchange: a draft payable at two months after sight.

a showing of goods, especially gems, held periodically for wholesalers.

Older Use. a multitude; great deal: It's a sight better to work than to starve.

10.

an observation taken with a surveying, navigating, or other instrument to ascertain an exact position or direction.

11.

any of various mechanical or optical viewing devices, as on a firearm or surveying instrument, for aiding the eye in aiming.

12.

Obsolete. skill; insight.

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verb (used with object)

13.

to see, glimpse, notice, or observe: to sight a ship to the north.

14.

to take a sight or observation of (a stake, coastline, etc.), especially with surveying or navigating instruments.

15.

to direct or aim by a sight or sights, as a firearm.

16.

to provide with sights or adjust the sights of, as a gun.

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Sight is one of our favorite verbs.

So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:

chat, to converse

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used without object)

17.

to aim or observe through a sight.

18.

to look carefully in a certain direction.

Idioms

19.

at first sight, at the first glimpse; at once: It was love at first sight.

20.

at sight,

immediately upon seeing, especially without referring elsewhere for assurance, further information, etc.: to translate something at sight.

Commerce. on presentation: a draft payable at sight.

21.

catch sight of, to get a glimpse of; espy: We caught sight of the lake below.

22.

know by sight, to recognize (a person or thing) seen previously: I know him by sight, but I know nothing about him.

23.

not by a long sight, Informal. definitely not: Is that all? Not by a long sight.

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24.

on/upon sight, immediately upon seeing: to shoot him on sight; to recognize someone on sight.

25.

out of sight,

beyond one's range of vision.

Informal. beyond reason; exceedingly high: The price is out of sight.

Slang. (often used interjectionally) fantastic; marvelous: a ceremony so glamorous it was out of sight.

26.

sight for sore eyes, someone or something whose appearance on the scene is cause for relief or gladness.

27.

sight unseen, without previous examination: to buy something sight unseen.

COLLAPSE

Origin:
before 950; Middle English (noun); Old English sihth (more often gesihth, gesiht; cognate with German Gesicht face; compare y-), derivative of sēon to see¹; see -th¹

Related forms

sight·a·ble, adjective

sight·er, noun

re·sight, verb (used with object)

un·der·sight, noun

Can be confused: cite, sight, site.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To sight

Example Sentences

For real estate, some economists say, an end to the seemingly endless decline in housing values might be in sight.

Snyder remembers emerging from the subway to the sight of both towers on fire.

But now their problems have erupted into plain sight.

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For real estate, some economists say, an end to the seemingly endless decline in housing values might be in sight.

Snyder remembers emerging from the subway to the sight of both towers on fire.

But now their problems have erupted into plain sight.

The village begins preparing for this wedding with no bridegroom in sight.

At best, though, the treatment would spare vision but not restore sight that has already been lost.

Two of the preeminent researchers of gene therapy hope to improve their patients' sight in an experimental operation.

The sight and sound of water bring peace to a garden, but that peace comes with a price.

As anyone who has been rear-ended on a highway knows, judging distance by sight is a useful skill.

The students are well dressed and well groomed, not a pair of jeans or scrappy goatee in sight.

The government argues that the exit is in sight and will come, in essence, by sticking to the plan.

The research suggests that various forms of sight may confer a range of survival advantages.

We take our sight for granted because it usually seems so effortless.

In blind people, parts of the brain that normally process sight are instead devoted to hearing.

Bunches of ripe tomatoes still clinging to the vine have become a familiar sight at produce markets.

The technology aids those who haven't totally lost sight from blinding diseases.

Because of political opposition, there's no solution in sight for the problem of nuclear-waste storage.

But what the molecule was reacting with to create birds' special sight has been a mystery-until now.

Recent research explains how the deaf can have extraordinary sight.

Many unknown dinosaurs await discovery in rock formations all over the world, but some new species are hiding in plain sight.

Note that the stove is not a period piece-no avocado or goldenrod appliances in sight.

Lasers provide a better long-distance solution-but only if there is direct line of sight between source and device.

I'd have thought a faculty that didnt check a sight was a bit dumb.

These dedicated doctors, and those they have trained, are restoring the gift of sight to tens of thousands who need it most.

The demise of the sun in five billion years will be a spectacular sight.

It's not simply because they need to find greener pastures after eating everything in sight.

The wall blocks the sight and sound of street traffic nearby.

Iguana's robot uses a navigation system that mimics the way human beings guide their movements by sight.

There seems to be no end in sight to our current wars.

The gecko uses its super sight to race into the dark forest.

For an arachnophobe, the sight of a spider making its way up a wall sparks fear.

What she had stumbled upon was rare indeed: a riddle in plain sight.

It also allows for a messy bed to be kept out of sight.

Among the tunes he salvaged are recordings from small, regional labels that have dropped out of sight.

They are consummate scavengers, with excellent senses of sight and smell and a nearly limitless menu of diet items.

Touch typing is typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys.

Everywhere are load-bearing arches with no straight walls in sight.

The architects streamlined the plan to bring daylight and front-to-rear sight lines through the house.

But it was the only thing in sight for miles and miles and miles.

The mere sight of a snake or spider strikes terror in the hearts of millions of people.

The tiny lights of fireflies dotting the night sky are a fascinating sight.

But regardless of the ongoing debate over sauropod biology the mount represents, it is an impressive sight.

Schraven capped the pond with granite that matches the stone facing on the spa, which is out of sight.

China's expectations are rising, with no end in sight.

To tap a certain microwave link, your opponents must be in the line of sight of the transmitter.

The sight of flamingos bobbing their heads in unison almost in rhythm with the gun blasts is almost hypnotic.

The sight of our garden, after several days of not seeing it, was downright thrilling.

Whether they use two eyes or dozens, people and animals turn light into sight.

The sight of small rodents unnerves a lot of people.

He had intended to be a doctor but discovered in college that he loved taking pictures and hated the sight of blood.

We finally scooped her up in a queen-catcher and coaxed her into the observation hive, where she promptly hid from sight.

With help from the brain, eyes turn light into sight.

Construction cranes are not necessarily a welcome sight in a rain forest.

Even the neatest of animals have little benefit to the public when they are out of sight.

Amid all the hoopla, it's easy to lose sight of the expedition's true significance.

Donoghue loses sight of the fact that not all college attendees are the same, nor do they share the same odds of graduation.

And there is still no end in sight to the scandal's spread.

Sight returns to cavefish blind for one million years.

Such a capacitor gauge could become a common sight on the dashboards of the future.

Most radical new technologies have been percolating in plain sight for years.

In all the conversation on this topic, let's not lose sight of the people this affects and the challenges they face.

It is a common sight at theatres, sports grounds and other public buildings.

Wily and skittish, they bolt at the sight of humans.

For years, astronomers had caught sight of such gamma-ray bursts several times a week in every part of the sky.

Nicholson paid for the surgery that restored her sight.

Aliens are coming, and they want to destroy pretty much everything in sight.

They offered me a job sight unseen and immediately asked for my social.

Then, with help from the brain, they turn light into sight.

And the sight of injured men, blood and shattered equipment.

Leahy is blind in his right eye, and the sight in his left eye is diminished because of damage to his brain's right frontal lobe.

The barrel is rifled cro-moly with a carbon outer, and you can buy an optional laser sight.

Five months after the injury, her sight was still moderately impaired.

Never mind that an adult pedaling a trike is the silliest sight this side of a sack race.

Though the man's sight was restored, his brain wasn't.

For millions of beachgoers, the sight of a dorsal fin sticking out of the water means a shark with one thing on its mind: prey.

Proust even goes so far as to blame his sense of sight for obscuring his childhood memories in the first place.

We ran through rarely used country roads, keeping a constant pace, but at this point no one was in sight.

The key is to never lose sight of why such programs are becoming critical components of a university education.

But now vultures have become so rare that birdwatchers go into raptures when they sight these carrion.

No end in sight for the bat-killing white-nose syndrome.

When the van's side panel swung open, people began to ooh and aah at the sight of eight magnificent rocking horses.

RF remotes won't require devices to be in your line of sight.

We all must keep fighting to change the academic job system, but make sure you don't lose sight of your real work along the way.

The sight of a farmwife waltzing with her geese reset my mental clock to another era.

One of the largest orb-weaving spiders had remained hidden from entomologists in plain sight.

He kept his mother constantly in sight as she obsessively cleaned their house, weeping all the while.

One other thing is that adjuncts get bitter and attack everyone in sight.

Finally, they even started attacking adults-a shocking sight never before photographed.

The water gurgled through underground pipes out of sight and largely out of memory.

Impressed at first sight the lucky shot turns into a pretty good picture editing.

As the name suggests, these canines hunt by sight rather than scent.

Larsen reports seeing a large dragonfly carry off a minnow, a sight so remarkable that other scientists have questioned him on.

Forty years later, there seems to be no cure in sight.

One can get hung up on these squabbles and lose sight of what an outstanding find early hominid fossils really are.

Pale light seeped in from a sun rising somewhere out of sight.

It seems, however, that the author has himself lost sight of the big picture.

No longer a luxury item, the beverage has become a common sight worldwide.

We forget where a story really starts, losing sight of where it's headed.

But when the dogs get into cars, there's not a seat belt in sight.

Thomas announced at one point in the tour, you'll notice that there are no books in sight.

We reel down the mountain as much by feel as by sight.

Others might celebrate it as the sight and sound of jobs, money being made, and energy being supplied.

Perhaps if this isn't the appropriate sight for these questions, you could guide me on.

Tuition is indeed too high and there appears to be no end in sight.

These largely nocturnal cats use keen sight and hearing to hunt.

The sight of one's beloved with pupils enlarged had the desired effect of communicating arousal.

Conventional microscopes use lenses to magnify whatever is in the line of sight.

The string of white-and-orange lifeboats strung out over a quarter-mile on the horizon ahead was an eerie sight.

Tragically the novelty of the sight apparently stoked the curiosity of the people who ran out onto the exposed seafloor.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

sight (saɪt)

—n
1.	the power or faculty of seeing; perception by the eyes; visionRelated: optical, visual
2.	the act or an instance of seeing
3.	the range of vision: within sight of land
4.	range of mental vision; point of view; judgment: in his sight she could do nothing wrong
5.	a glimpse or view (esp in the phrases catch sight of, lose sight of)
6.	anything that is seen
7.	(often plural) anything worth seeing; spectacle: the sights of London
8.	informal anything unpleasant or undesirable to see: his room was a sight!
9.	any of various devices or instruments used to assist the eye in making alignments or directional observations, esp such a device used in aiming a gun
10.	an observation or alignment made with such a device
11.	an opportunity for observation
12.	obsolete insight or skill
13.	informal a sight a great deal: she's a sight too good for him
14.	a sight for sore eyes a person or thing that one is pleased or relieved to see
15.	at sight, on sight
	a. as soon as seen
	b. on presentation: a bill payable at sight
16.	know by sight to be familiar with the appearance of without having personal acquaintance: I know Mr Brown by sight but we have never spoken
17.	informal not by a long sight on no account; not at all
18.	out of sight
	a. slang not visible
	b. extreme or very unusual
	c. (as interj.): that's marvellous!
19.	set one's sights on to have (a specified goal) in mind; aim for
20.	sight unseen without having seen the object at issue: to buy a car sight unseen

—vb
21.	(tr) to see, view, or glimpse
22.	(tr)
	a. to furnish with a sight or sights
	b. to adjust the sight of
23.	to aim (a firearm) using the sight

Related: optical, visual

[Old English sihth; related to Old High German siht; see see¹]

'sightable

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

sight

O.E. gesiht, gesihð "thing seen," from P.Gmc. *sekh(w)- (cf. Dan. sigte, Swed. sigt, M.Du. sicht, Du. zicht, O.H.G. siht, Ger. Sicht, Gesicht), stem of O.E. seon (see see). Meaning "perception or apprehension by means of the eyes" is from early 13c. Meaning "device on a

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firearm to assist in aiming" is from 1580s; the verb in this sense is from 1842.

"Verily, truth is sight. Therefore if two people should come disputing, saying, 'I have seen,' 'I have heard,' we should trust the one who says 'I have seen.' " [Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 5.14.4]

Sight for sore eyes "welcome visitor" is attested from 1738; sight unseen "without previous inspection" is from 1892. Sight gag first attested 1957.

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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

sight (sīt)
n.