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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

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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

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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

Karoon, which just announced its plans to explore for oil last week, said the bight held “the world’s last underexplored Cretaceous basins”.

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

I could just drift, he thought, and sleep and put a bight of line around my toe to wake me.

From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

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

The animals also thrive in the Cold Pool, a band of cold near-bottom water that streams through the lower regions of this section of the New York-New Jersey Bight.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2024

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 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

Doubtful which course to follow, we anchored the vessel in Rocky Bight, and despatched the boats to examine both passages.

From Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836 Volume I. - Proceedings of the First Expedition, 1826-1830 by Robert Fitzroy

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

Forward the watch sat about in coils of rope and sheltered nooks or walked the deck unsteadily, and a glance aloft showed the captain his rigging hanging in bights and yards pointed every way.

From "Where Angels Fear to Tread" and Other Stories of the Sea by Morgan Robertson

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

The Turk's Head may be drawn as tight as desired around the rope, or rod, by working up the slack and drawing all bights taut.

From Knots, Splices and Rope Work A Practical Treatise by A. Hyatt (Alpheus Hyatt) Verrill

"A couple of rope spans round the plank and their bights slipped over the hook of the lower block, and the trick's done."

From The Nameless Island A Story of some Modern Robinson Crusoes by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

“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

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