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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)

• bights,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bighted,
  past participle,  past
• bighting
  present participle

1. to fasten with a bight of rope.

bight ¹ 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 ² 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 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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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• bighting
  present
• bighted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bight
  simple
• bights
  simple
• have bighted
  perfect
• has bighted
  perfect
• am bighting
  progressive
• are bighting
  progressive
• is bighting
  progressive
• have been bighting
  perfect progressive
• has been bighting
  perfect progressive

Past

• bighted
  simple
• had bighted
  perfect
• was bighting
  progressive
• were bighting
  progressive
• had been bighting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bight
  simple
• will have bighted
  perfect
• will be bighting
  progressive
• will have been bighting
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

bight Bight bights bighted

Even with a young team, the Anteaters advanced to the Big West Tournament final, so the future should be bight.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 11, 2018

“BP have said goodbye to the bight, I say good riddance to BP,” Hanson-Young said.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 10, 2016

The shallow bight, more than a mile wide in places, runs east to west and cuts Andros roughly in half.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 14, 2015

The boardwalk weaves along the bight from the ferry terminal on Grinnell to the end of Front Street.

From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2015

As she left Camp Four at the front of Fischer’s group, Lopsang abruptly pulled her aside and girth-hitched a bight of rope to the front of her climbing harness.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

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

As a case study, the authors used the 21 biological and physical guidelines presented in their framework to map out protections for giant kelp ecosystems and species across the Southern California Bight.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2023

They were aboard a 38-foot catamaran anchored in Lookout Bight in Cape Lookout, North Carolina, stuck in choppy water with strong winds.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 23, 2023

Almost in desperation, several German Dreadnoughts, accompanied by light cruisers and destroyers, emerged from the Heligoland Bight.

From With Beatty off Jutland A Romance of the Great Sea Fight by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

The map was full of promises of the undiscovered, coves and lookout points, brooks and bights each harboring a secret second chance.

From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 2016

Begin by bending the rope to form two bights as in A, Fig.

From On the Trail An Outdoor Book for Girls by Lina Beard

Now then, Bill, you stand by to haul Mr Lascelles out of the thick of these bights and turns whilst I holds ’em up.

From The Rover's Secret A Tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons of Cuba by W. Christian Symons

"Take a couple of bights of that line, and make it fast on the third rung, you three-fingered blacksmith!" yelled our mate.

From Harper's Round Table, May 28, 1895 by Various

As the boom swung in, the sheet, of course, slackened up, and the bights, going over the quarter-deck, had caught everything in the way.

From The Story of a Strange Career Being the Autobiography of a Convict; an Authentic Document by Anonymous

“You don’t want to end up with a bighted community as a result of trying to implement drastic water conservation measures,” Fraser said.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 14, 2015