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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

Fitzpatrick said the venture in the bight either wasn’t competitive or didn’t align with the company’s “strategic goals”.

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

RWE said it has agreed to relinquish its leases off the California and Louisiana coasts as well as in the New York Bight.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

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

In the Southern California Bight, they might prioritize conserving a variety of sandy beaches, tidal flats, rocky reefs, and kelp forests.

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

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

Cat's-paw is also a name given to a particular twisting hitch, made in the bight of a rope, so as to induce two small bights, in order to hook a tackle on them both.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Sir Edward Belcher

A few weeks after this episode the Hoboken was slowly wending her way along the bights of the Bahamas.

From Willis the Pilot by Paul Adrien

If the rope is to be permanently shortened pass the ends through the first and second bights at the bend as in E, and the knot will hold for any length of time.

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

A "knot board," showing the various knots tied perfectly and names attached, ends of rope whipped, bights, loops and coils, is an interesting bit of work for a Troop of Girl Scouts to do.

From Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts by Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon

“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