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on sight

Idioms

Also, at sight. Immediately upon seeing, as in The soldiers threatened to shoot looters on sight, or He's able to multiply those three-digit figures at sight. [Second half of 1400s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Department of Transportation mandated that air traffic controllers rely on radar to manage aircraft flight paths, barring them from instructing pilots to avoid aircraft based on sight.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

"Operators do a lot of caramel testing, just on sight and on feel. So basically, they walk up to the caramel and just give it a squeeze."

From BBC • Dec. 18, 2025

I don't want to sound like I'm prejudging these birds, but they're not like peacocks where it is easy to tell them apart on sight.

From Salon • Nov. 16, 2024

Meanwhile, scientists are also encouraging the public to kill lanternflies on sight, from egg masses and nymphs to adults.

From National Geographic • Aug. 31, 2023

Now face to face the magical Kalypso recognized him, as all immortal gods know one another on sight though seeming strangers, far from home.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023