backsight
a sight on a previously occupied instrument station.
(in leveling) the reading on a rod that is held on a point of known elevation, used in computing the elevation of the instrument.
Origin of backsight
1Words Nearby backsight
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use backsight in a sentence
The tiny figures seen over the slide of the backsight seemed a little larger, but also fewer at each successive volley.
The River War | Winston S. Churchill"Come quick," he shouted, adjusting the backsight of a rifle.
The Wings of the Morning | Louis Tracy
British Dictionary definitions for backsight
/ (ˈbækˌsaɪt) /
the sight of a rifle nearer the stock
surveying a reading taken looking backwards to a previously occupied station: Compare foresight (def. 4)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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