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 c.1225. Meaning "device on a firearm to assist in aiming" is from 1588; the verb in this sense is from 1842.
"Verily, truth is sight. Therefore if two people should come disputing, sayin
an instance of visual perception; "the sight of his wife brought him back to reality"; "the train was an unexpected sight"
2.
anything that is seen; "he was a familiar sight on the television"; "they went to Paris to see the sights"
3.
the ability to see; the visual faculty
4.
a range of mental vision; "in his sight she could do no wrong"
5.
the range of vision; "out of sight of land"
6.
the act of looking or seeing or observing; "he tried to get a better view of it"; "his survey of the battlefield was limited" [syn: view]
7.
(often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent; "a batch of letters"; "a deal of trouble"; "a lot of money"; "he made a mint on the stock market"; "see the rest of the winners in our huge passel of photos"; "it must have cost plenty"; "a slew of journalists"; "a wad of money" [syn: batch]
verb
1.
catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes; "he caught sight of the king's men coming over the ridge" [syn: spy]
2.
take aim by looking through the sights of a gun (or other device)
See\, v. t. [imp. Saw; p. p. Seen; p. pr. & vb. n. Seeing.] [OE. seen, sen, seon, As. se['o]n; akin to OFries. s[=i]a, D. zien, OS. & OHG. sehan, G. sehen, Icel. sj[=a], Sw. se, Dan. see, Goth. sa['i]hwan, and probably to L. sequi to follow (and so originally meaning, to follow with the eyes). Gr. ??????, Skr. sac. Cf. Sight, Sun to follow.]1. To perceive by the eye; to have knowledge of the existence and apparent qualities of by the organs of sight; to behold; to descry; to view. I will new turn aside, and see this great sight. --Ex. iii. 3. 2. To perceive by mental vision; to form an idea or conception of; to note with the mind; to observe; to discern; to distinguish; to understand; to comprehend; to ascertain. Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren. --Gen. xxxvii. 14. Jesus saw that he answered discreetly. --Mark xii. 34. Who 's so gross That seeth not this palpable device? --Shak. 3. To follow with the eyes, or as with the eyes; to watch; to regard attentivelly; to look after. --Shak. I had a mind to see him out, and therefore did not care for centradicting him. --Addison. 4. To have an interview with; especially, to make a call upon; to visit; as, to go to see a friend. And Samuel came no more to see Saul untill the day of his death. --1 Sam. xv. 35. 5. To fall in with; to have intercourse or communication with; hence, to have knowledge or experience of; as, to see military service. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. --Ps. xc. 15. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. --John viii. 51. Improvement in wisdom and prudence by seeing men. --Locke. 6. To accompany in person; to escort; to wait upon; as, to see one home; to see one aboard the cars. God you (him, or me, etc.) see, God keep you (him, me, etc.) in his sight; God protect you. [Obs.] --Chaucer. To see (anything) out, to see (it) to the end; to be present at, or attend, to the end. To see stars, to see flashes of light, like stars; -- sometimes the result of concussion of the head. [Colloq.] To see (one) through, to help, watch, or guard (one) to the end of a course or an undertaking.
Sight\, n. [OE. sight, si?t, siht, AS. siht, gesiht, gesih?, gesieh?, gesyh?; akin to D. gezicht, G. sicht, gesicht, Dan. sigte, Sw. sigt, from the root of E. see. See See, v. t.]1. The act of seeing; perception of objects by the eye; view; as, to gain sight of land. A cloud received him out of their sight. --Acts. i. 9. 2. The power of seeing; the faculty of vision, or of perceiving objects by the instrumentality of the eyes. Thy sight is young, And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle. --Shak. O loss of sight, of thee I most complain! --Milton. 3. The state of admitting unobstructed vision; visibility; open view; region which the eye at one time surveys; space through which the power of vision extends; as, an object within sight. 4. A spectacle; a view; a show; something worth seeing. Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. --Ex. iii. 3. They never saw a sight so fair. --Spenser. 5. The instrument of seeing; the eye. Why cloud they not their sights? --Shak. 6. Inspection; examination; as, a letter intended for the sight of only one person. 7. Mental view; opinion; judgment; as, in their sight it was harmless. --Wake. That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. --Luke xvi. 15. 8. A small aperture through which objects are to be seen, and by which their direction is settled or ascertained; as, the sight of a quadrant. Thier eyes of fire sparking through sights of steel. --Shak. 9. A small piece of metal, fixed or movable, on the breech, muzzle, center, or trunnion of a gun, or on the breech and the muzzle of a rifle, pistol, etc., by means of which the eye is guided in aiming. --Farrow. 10. 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 or the like, the open space, the opening. 11. A great number, quantity, or sum; as, a sight of money. [Now colloquial] Note: Sight in this last sense was formerly employed in the best usage. "A sight of lawyers." --Latimer. A wonder sight of flowers. --Gower. At sight, as soon as seen, or presented to sight; as, a draft payable at sight: to read Greek at sight; to shoot a person at sight. Front sight (Firearms), the sight nearest the muzzle. Open sight. (Firearms) (a) A front sight through which the objects aimed at may be seen, in distinction from one that hides the object. (b) A rear sight having an open notch instead of an aperture. Peep sight, Rear sight. See under Peep, and Rear. Sight draft, an order, or bill of exchange, directing the payment of money at sight. To take sight, to take aim; to look for the purpose of directing a piece of artillery, or the like. Syn: Vision; view; show; spectacle; representation; exhibition.
Sight\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sighted; p. pr. & vb. n. Sighting.]1. To get sight of; to see; as, to sight land; to sight a wreck. --Kane. 2. To look at through a sight; to see accurately; as, to sight an object, as a star. 3. To apply sights to; to adjust the sights of; also, to give the proper elevation and direction to by means of a sight; as, to sight a rifle or a cannon.
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