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

It was odd enough that most people in the crowd were wearing fluorescent orange, but stranger still was this rarity: the sight of a group of diverse men full of hope.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026

Adventurer Karl Bushby has been walking around the world for 28 years and now the end of his journey is in sight.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

With fond memories of living in the condo complex in his 20s, the 43-year-old public employee decided to buy a two-bedroom unit, sight unseen, for $260,000 in July 2024.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

Beaded axons themselves are not an unfamiliar sight.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

When she caught sight of me, she took off her glasses and stood up.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

The Rams, whose sights are set on much bigger moments, seemingly treated it like a practice.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

Ms. Korsgaard is alert to what such sights might teach her, but she can’t sit still for long.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

She set her sights on Oia, the island’s tourist magnet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Teenager Lamine Yamal is hungry for more and has set his sights on the Champions League.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

"Tristran," said the vicar, "I suppose that you must have seen many strange sights upon your travels."

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

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

Another was seen off the coast off Bahia in Brazil before being sighted 22 years later in Hervey Bay, Australia 15,100 kilometres away.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

Features can include translating text, or responding to questions about what the user is looking at - particularly useful for those who are blind or partially sighted.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026

Rachel, who sighted imaginary snakes at the least provocation, said, “Jeez oh man,” rolled her eyes, and announced her plan to pass the next twelve months in bed.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

The BBC's Tiffanie Turnbull explains everything you need to know about the sighting off Australia's Gold Coast, and why it's so rare.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

It’s not the first rare sighting this summer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

The Sacramento Bee, which reported earlier on the wolf sighting, called the appearance of the canine in Lake County “especially significant” because much of the species’ recovery has occurred east of Interstate 5.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

This latest sighting, though, reveals that the bird survived his first winter alone.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Cassiopeia pointed and waved her plume excitedly, no doubt hoping for another ostrich sighting.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• appearance
• eye
• perception
• view
• vision