sight Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an instance of visual perception
    • the sight of his wife brought him back to reality
    • the train was an unexpected sight
  2. noun anything that is seen
    • he was a familiar sight on the television
    • they went to Paris to see the sights
  3. noun the ability to see; the visual faculty
    visual modality; visual sense; vision.
  4. noun a range of mental vision
    • in his sight she could do no wrong
  5. noun the range of vision
    ken.
    • out of sight of land
  6. noun the act of looking or seeing or observing
    survey; view.
    • he tried to get a better view of it
    • his survey of the battlefield was limited
  7. noun (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
    plenty; great deal; pot; flock; mint; slew; mountain; deal; wad; muckle; pile; lot; mickle; raft; quite a little; passel; hatful; mess; spate; heap; peck; stack; good deal; batch; tidy sum; mass.
    • 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
  8. verb catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes
    spy.
    • he caught sight of the king's men coming over the ridge
  9. verb take aim by looking through the sights of a gun (or other device)

WordNet

Sight noun
Etymology
OE. sight, sit, 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.
Definitions
  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 ✍ Sight in this last sense was formerly employed in the best usage. "A sight of lawyers." Latimer.
    A wonder sight of flowers. Gower.
    Syn. -- Vision; view; show; spectacle; representation; exhibition.
Sight transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Sighted; present participle & verbal noun Sighting
Definitions
  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.
Sight intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. (Mil.) To take aim by a sight.

Webster 1913