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• bight
  bight

  noun

  the middle part of a rope, as distinguished from the ends.
• Bight
  Bight

  noun

  the major indentation of the S coast of Australia, from Cape Pasley in W Australia to the Eyre Peninsula in S Australia

bight

American  

[bahyt] / baɪt /

noun

1. the middle part of a rope, as distinguished from the ends.

2. the loop or bent part of a rope, as distinguished from the ends.

3. a bend or curve in the shore of a sea or river.

4. a body of water bounded by such a bend.

5. a bay or gulf.

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verb (used with object)

1. to fasten with a bight of rope.

Bight ¹ British  

noun

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

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bight ² British  

/ baɪt /

noun

1. a wide indentation of a shoreline, or the body of water bounded by such a curve

2. the slack middle part of an extended rope

3. a curve or loop in a rope

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verb

1. (tr) to fasten or bind with a bight

bight Scientific  

/ bīt /

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of bight

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

Example Sentences

The bottle was thrown overboard "somewhere in the Bight", Pte Harley's letter said, referring to the Great Australian Bight off the country's southern coast.

From BBC • Oct. 29, 2025

In Australia, marsupials abound: A snarling Tasmanian devil stands before craggy Cradle Mountain, while a stubby brown wombat surveils the Great Australian Bight.

From New York Times • Dec. 10, 2023

They recommended a series of protected areas that link isolated populations like beads of a necklace along the Southern California Bight.

From Science Daily • Oct. 26, 2023

Both were in a triangular section of the Atlantic Ocean, known as the New York Bight, that extends from Cape May in New Jersey to Montauk on the tip of Long Island.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 2, 2023

The latter is the only important inlet upon the Atlantic coast, and divides into two branches,—the Bight of Biafra and the Bight of Benin.

From The World and Its People: Book VII Views in Africa by Badlam, Anna B.