sight

American  

[sahyt] / saɪt /

noun

• sights
  plural

1. the power or faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision.

2. an act, fact, or instance of seeing.

3. an instance of looking briefly; view; glimpse.

4. one's range of vision on some specific occasion.

   Land is in sight.

5. mental perception or regard; judgment.

6. something seen or worth seeing; spectacle.

   the sights of London.

7. Informal. something unusual, surprising, shocking, or distressing.

   They were a sight after the fight.

8. Commerce.

   1. presentation of a bill of exchange.

      a draft payable at two months after sight.

   2. a showing of goods, especially gems, held periodically for wholesalers.

9. Older Use. a great deal.

   It's a sight better to work than to starve.

10. an observation taken with a surveying, navigating, or other instrument to ascertain an exact position or direction.

11. any of various mechanical or optical viewing devices, as on a firearm or surveying instrument, for aiding the eye in aiming.

12. Obsolete. skill; insight.

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verb (used with object)

• sights,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sighted,
  past participle,  past
• sighting
  present participle

1. to see, glimpse, notice, or observe.

   to sight a ship to the north.

2. to take a sight or observation of (a stake, coastline, etc.), especially with surveying or navigating instruments.

3. to direct or aim by a sight or sights, as a firearm.

4. to provide with sights or adjust the sights of, as a gun.

verb (used without object)

• sights,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sighted,
  past participle,  past
• sighting
  present participle

1. to aim or observe through a sight.

2. to look carefully in a certain direction.

idioms

1. on / upon sight, immediately upon seeing.

   to shoot him on sight;

   to recognize someone on sight.

2. not by a long sight, definitely not.

   Is that all? Not by a long sight.

3. at first sight, at the first glimpse; at once.

   It was love at first sight.

4. in plain sight. see in plain sight.

5. sight for sore eyes, someone or something whose appearance on the scene is cause for relief or gladness.

6. sight unseen, without previous examination.

   to buy something sight unseen.

7. catch sight of, to get a glimpse of; espy.

   We caught sight of the lake below.

8. know by sight, to recognize (a person or thing) seen previously.

   I know him by sight, but I know nothing about him.

9. at sight,

   1. immediately upon seeing, especially without referring elsewhere for assurance, further information, etc..

      to translate something at sight.

   2. Commerce. on presentation.

      a draft payable at sight.

10. out of sight,

    1. beyond one's range of vision.

    2. Informal. beyond reason; exceedingly high.

       The price is out of sight.

    3. Slang. (often used as an interjection) fantastic; marvelous.

       a ceremony so glamorous it was out of sight.

       Oh wow! Out of sight!

sight British  

/ saɪt /

noun

1. the power or faculty of seeing; perception by the eyes; vision

2. the act or an instance of seeing

3. the range of vision

   within sight of land

4. range of mental vision; point of view; judgment

   in his sight she could do nothing wrong

5. a glimpse or view (esp in the phrases catch sight of, lose sight of )

6. anything that is seen

7. (often plural) anything worth seeing; spectacle

   the sights of London

8. informal anything unpleasant or undesirable to see

   his room was a sight!

9. any of various devices or instruments used to assist the eye in making alignments or directional observations, esp such a device used in aiming a gun

10. an observation or alignment made with such a device

11. an opportunity for observation

12. obsolete insight or skill

13. informal a great deal

    she's a sight too good for him

14. a person or thing that one is pleased or relieved to see

15. 1. as soon as seen

    2. on presentation

       a bill payable at sight

16. to be familiar with the appearance of without having personal acquaintance

    I know Mr Brown by sight but we have never spoken

17. informal on no account; not at all

18. 1. slang not visible

    2. extreme or very unusual

    3. ( as interj. )

       that's marvellous!

19. to have (a specified goal) in mind; aim for

20. without having seen the object at issue

    to buy a car sight unseen

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verb

1. (tr) to see, view, or glimpse

2. (tr)

   1. to furnish with a sight or sights

   2. to adjust the sight of

3. to aim (a firearm) using the sight

sight More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing sight

• at first blush (sight)
• at sight
• can't stand the sight of
• catch sight of
• heave into sight
• in sight
• know by sight
• lose sight of
• love at first sight
• lower one's sights
• on sight
• out of sight
• raise one's sights
• second sight
• see the sights
• set one's sights on
• twenty-twenty hindsight

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sighter
  noun
• undersight
  noun
• resight
  verb (used with object)
• sightable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sights
  plural

Participles

• sighting
  present
• sighted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sight
  simple
• sights
  simple
• have sighted
  perfect
• has sighted
  perfect
• am sighting
  progressive
• are sighting
  progressive
• is sighting
  progressive
• have been sighting
  perfect progressive
• has been sighting
  perfect progressive

Past

• sighted
  simple
• had sighted
  perfect
• was sighting
  progressive
• were sighting
  progressive
• had been sighting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sight
  simple
• will have sighted
  perfect
• will be sighting
  progressive
• will have been sighting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sight

First recorded before 950; Middle English (noun); Old English sihth (more often gesihth, gesiht; cognate with German Gesicht face; cf. y-), derivative of sēon “to see ¹ ”; see -th ¹

Explanation

Your sight is your ability to see. If you're maneuvering through the house at midnight using your shins to locate the furniture, you'll appreciate your sight that much more. You could also turn a light on. Sight has many different senses. It can mean the range of your vision, as in when you freak out when your little puppy goes out of sight. You can "take in the sights," meaning you're seeing all the special attractions of a town (also known as sightseeing). Sight can also be a verb, as when you sight a celebrity at your local taco stand, or when you sight your target using the sight on your gun, before you shoot.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sight sights sighted sighting

Love is an acknowledgment, a kind of sight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Thousands of troops, including the 82nd Airborne Division, were sent to the Middle East more than six months ago for a deployment that is now stretching into 2027 with no obvious end in sight.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

The uprising is a sight to behold, and this summer I went to Albania and beheld it.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

Their images are disturbing, but not entirely scary; they don’t read like those of a horror film, but rather, a sight of some obsolete era of humanity.

From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026

From where I stood I could see almost the entire Lagerstrasse, tens of thousands of women stretching out of sight, their breath hanging white in the night air.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Between September 14 and 20, the Moon can serve as a useful guide to several notable sights in the night sky.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

It is those white-collar jobs that Blume now has in his sights.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Rather than simply creating a secluded vacation home, DiCaprio set his sights on turning the undeveloped island into an environmentally conscious luxury resort.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

Captain Bruno Guimaraes' sights were set on a move to Arsenal.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

I began searching my mind for a consoling way to view the roadside sights and also, frankly, for something likely to impress Farmer.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

"Shortly before midnight, an unidentified flying object was sighted near Leipzig-Halle Airport, prompting the diversion of several aircraft -- including a passenger plane -- to other airports", they said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Shortly after noon on March 17, about 170 miles off the coast of Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, crew members said they sighted a blue boat in the distance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

And basically, they integrated sighted children so they could be part of the community and help out.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

Eid al-Fitr, which means "the festival of the breaking of the fast", begins when a new moon is sighted in the evening sky.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026

Occasionally I sighted a handful of scrawny cattle, goats and pigs grazing on stubbles of dry brush.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife received two reports of a rare gray wolf sighting and photos of the carnivore in late August in an area where Mendocino, Glenn and Lake counties meet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

The sighting still needs to be accepted by the California Bird Records Committee, which reviews and confirms rare bird sightings in the state.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

The challenge of sighting puffins adds to their allure: Like Maine’s other photogenic wildlife icon, the moose, puffins are genetically wired to stay elusive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

There is also a fake Facebook post claiming to be from Yorkshire Police - no force with that name actually exists - and suggesting that the force is taking the rumoured sighting seriously.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

“First sighting was spring, tenth of this year. When Petal was taken.”

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

Related Words

• appearance
• eye
• perception
• view
• vision