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sight

Pronunciation: /sʌɪt/

Translate sight | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of sight

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] the faculty or power of seeing:Joseph lost his sight as a baby [as modifier]:a sight test
  • the action or fact of seeing someone or something:I’ve always been scared of the sight of blood
  • the area or distance within which someone can see or something can be seen:he now refused to let Rose out of his sight
  • dated a person’s view or consideration:we are all equal in the sight of God
  • 2a thing that one sees or that can be seen:John was a familiar sight in the bar for many years he was getting used to seeing unpleasant sights
  • (sights) places of interest to tourists and visitors in a city, town, or other place:she offered to show me the sights
  • (a sight) informal a person or thing having a ridiculous, repulsive, or dishevelled appearance:‘I must look a frightful sight,’ she said
  • 3 (usually sights) a device on a gun or optical instrument used for assisting a person’s precise aim or observation: there were reports of a man on the roof aiming a rifle and looking through its sights

verb

  • 1 [with object] manage to see or observe (someone or something); catch an initial glimpse of:tell me when you sight London Bridge
  • 2 [no object, with adverbial of direction] take aim by looking through the sights of a gun:she sighted down the barrel
  • take a detailed visual measurement of something with or as with a sight: he had to sight along the planks in the proper order to get the line right
  • [with object] adjust the sight of (a firearm or optical instrument): even when using binoculars, it is difficult to sight the lens angle in reverse

Phrases

at first sight

on first seeing or meeting someone:it was love at first sight
from an initial impression:the debate is more complex than it seems at first sight

catch (or get a) sight of

glimpse for a moment; suddenly notice:when she caught sight of him she smiled

in sight

visible:no other vehicle was in sight
near at hand; close to being achieved or realized:the minister insisted that agreement was in sight

in (or within) sight of

so as to see or be seen from:I climbed the hill and came in sight of the house
within reach of; close to attaining:he was safe for the moment and in sight of victory

in (or within) one's sights

visible, especially through the sights of one’s gun: make sure we don’t lose the quarry once we have him in our sights figurativethe company was quick to stress that it has no other hostile targets in its sights
within the scope of one’s ambitions or expectations:he had the prize firmly in his sights

lose sight of

be no longer able to see: when night fell, the crew lost sight of the strange monster
fail to consider, be aware of, or remember:we should not lose sight of the fact that the issues involved are moral ones

not a pretty sight

informal not a pleasant spectacle or situation: the squid aren’t a pretty sight, but they taste tender and rich all directors grow up, and in this film the result is not a pretty sight

on (or at) sight

as soon as someone or something has been seen:in Africa, paramilitary game wardens shoot poachers on sight

out of sight

  • 1not visible:she saw them off, waving until the car was out of sight
  • 2 (also outasight) [often as exclamation] informal extremely good; excellent: he would occasionally interrupt the liturgy to comment ‘out of sight’ to the band [as modifier]:outasight funk from Mr Superbad and much more

out of sight, out of mind

proverb you soon forget people or things that are no longer visible or present: he’ll be locked away for the rest of his life—out of sight, out of mind

(get) out of my sight!

go away at once!.

raise (or lower) one's sights

become more (or less) ambitious; increase (or lower) one’s expectations: if it fails to reach that minimum, they can either lower their sights or take the property off the market

set one's sights on

have as an ambition; hope strongly to achieve or reach:Katherine set her sights on university

a sight ——

informal much; to a considerable extent:the old lady is a sight cleverer than Sarah he’s a sight too full of himself

a sight for sore eyes

informal a person or thing that one is extremely pleased or relieved to see: the mighty Cairngorms are a sight for sore eyes in any rambler’s book

a sight to behold

a person or thing that is particularly impressive or worth seeing: Selwyn’s garden was a sight to behold

Derivatives

sighter

noun

Origin:

Old English (ge)sihth 'something seen', of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch zicht and German Gesicht 'sight, face, appearance'. The verb dates from the mid 16th century (in sight (sense 2 of the verb))

On the confusion of sight and site, see site (usage).

sight in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sight in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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