▪ I. sight, n.1
(saɪt)
Forms: α. 1 sihð, 2–3 sihðe (3 sihh-), 4 siþe, 4–5 sith, syth, 5 sythte; 1 sighð, 3 sig(ð)he, sihȝeðe, 4 ziȝþe, zyȝþe, 5 syȝth, 6 sygth. β. 2–3 syhte, 2–4 siht(e, 3 seht(e, sichte, 4–6 Sc. sicht, sycht, 7 Sc. seicht; 3–4 seȝt (4 seiȝt), 3–5 siȝt(e, 4 -tte), siȝhte, syȝt(e; 3 sigt(e, sygte, 5 sygt; 4–6 syght (5 seght), 4–7 syghte, sighte, 3– sight; 4–7 site, 9 north. seet.
[OE. sihð (rare, usually ᵹesihð, ᵹesiht, i-sight), = MDu. sicht, zicht (Du. zicht, Fris. sicht), MLG. sichte (hence Da. and Sw. sigt), OHG. siht (G. sicht), f. sih- the stem of see v. + -th1.]
I. 1. a. A thing seen, esp. of a striking or remarkable nature; a spectacle.
In early use chiefly of something strange or supernatural.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark ix. 9 [He] bebead ðæm þætte ne æniᵹum..ða sihðo ᵹesæᵹdon. c 1160 Hatton Gosp. Mark xvi. 8 Hyo..wæren aferde for þare sihðe þe hyo ᵹeseaᵹen. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1607 Ha awundreden ham swiðe of þat sihðe. c 1275 Lay. 3897 Þreo daiȝes hit reinede blod... Þat was a wel wonder siht. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. ii. 911 Swa grysly a sight saw he never nane. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 115 Wherof the Cite sore afflyhte, Of hem that sihen thilke syhte. c 1450 Merlin ii. 37 Vnder that water be two dragons that see no sight. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 441 The sycht with out was awfull for to se. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 306 b, My hert bresteth to se this syght. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer i. (1577) F ij, White teeth is a good sight in a woman. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 433, I saw in Irelands North-parts, two remarkable sights:..The other as goodly sight I saw. 1700 Dryden Ovid's Met. xiii. Acis, Polyphemus, & Galatea 157 What fouler sight can be, Than the bald branches of a leafless tree? 1742 Young Nt. Th. i. 306 How sad a sight is human happiness To those whose thought can pierce beyond an hour! 1803–6 Wordsw. Ode Intim. Immort. i, The earth, and every common sight. 1854 Brewster More Worlds ii. 17 There is, perhaps, no sight in the material world more magnificent than that of the starry firmament. 1889 Mivart Orig. Human Reason 53 A name can only be a certain sound, or, if written, a certain sight. |
† b. A vision.
Book of sights, the Apocalypse.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John, Int. 1 Iohannes..in pathma ealond þæt boc ðæra sighðana [L. apocalipsen] eac awrat. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 32 Him-sulf he cam bi niȝhte, And schewede heom ȝware is heued lay ase it were in a siȝhte. a 1300 Cursor M. 18984 Yur yongmen [sal] sightes se. Yur eldrin men sal dremes dreme. 1340 Ayenb. 133 Þou miȝt..ete of þe trawe of liue, ase god zayþ ine þe boc of ziȝþe. 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Sight that disceyveth ones jugement, illusion. 1581 A. Anderson Shield of Safetie (title-p.), Vpon Symeons sight, in hys Nunc dimittis. 1611 Cotgr., Vision, a vision, sight, apparition, fantasie. 1825 Lamb Mem. Liston in Eliana (1867) 64 He was subject to sights, and had visions. |
c. pl. Those features or objects in a particular place or town which are considered to be specially worth seeing.
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. 400 We tooke a Guide, and so proceeded in our sights. a 1700 Evelyn Diary Apr. 1646, We came this evening to Brescia, which next morning we traverst..in search of antiquities and new sights. 1760–2 Goldsm. Cit. W. lxv, You may go and see sights the whole day. 1835 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 44 Other sights we have seen none, except the British Museum and the King and Queen. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. vi. 183 A high class courier, well acquainted with the proper sights to be seen in each town. |
d. In
colloq. phr. a sight for sore eyes: a person or thing one is glad to see,
esp. a welcome visitor.
| [1738 Swift Polite Conv. i. 7 The Sight of you is good for sore Eyes.] 1826 Hazlitt in New Monthly Mag. XVI. 38 Garrick's name was..proposed..on condition he should act in tragedy and comedy... What a sight for sore eyes that would be! 1871 Monthly Pkt. Christmas 108 You're a sight for sair ee'n the now! I'm just aboot in the awfuest swither ever a body was. 1897 R. Marsh Crime & Criminal xxiii. 192 He was a sight for sore eyes... I like to see a man that is a man. 1931 E. O'Neill Mourning becomes Electra (1932) 125 You certainly are a sight for sore eyes, Vinnie! 1973 People's Jrnl. (Inverness) 28 July 4/5 Elizabeth..and Sheena had done wonders,..and the buffet was a sight for sore eyes. |
e. Something which calls forth contemptuous, horrified, or amused glances; a shocking, repulsive, or ridiculous spectacle.
colloq.| [1694 W. Penn Rise of Quakers ii. 53 It was not very easie to our Primitive Friends, to make themselves Sights and Spectacles, and the Scorn and Derision of the World.] 1862 F. W. Robinson Owen II. v. iv. 288 I'm getting better now,..I was a sight last week. 1911 Beerbohm Zuleika Dobson xx. 296 Clarence curbed the brotherly intention of telling her she looked ‘a sight’ in them. 1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet iii. i. 229 'Ain't he a sight now,’ Snopes cackled. |
f. sight unseen: without previous inspection, without seeing the object to be acquired.
orig. U.S.| 1892 Dialect Notes I. 231 To trade knives sight unseen is to swap without seeing each other's knife. 1898 Yearbk. U.S. Dept. Agric. 1897 427 The intelligent farmer of today has got beyond trading ‘sight unseen’ or ‘buying a cat in a bag’ when it comes to fertilizers. 1940 F. D. Davison Woman at Mill 94, I learned that he had selected sight-unseen, that he had now come to look over his property for the first time. 1962 V. Nabokov Pale Fire 82, I have had occasion to say something about the amenities of my habitation. The charming, charmingly vague lady..who secured it for me, sight unseen, meant well, no doubt. 1968 Listener 7 Mar. 303, I said you were mad to advertise our modest needs—sight unseen—in the New Statesman. 1979 Daily Tel. 3 Feb. 34/2, I am recommending this [TV film], sight unseen, because the first offering in the series..was so good. |
2. a. A show or display
of something; hence, a great number or quantity; a multitude; a ‘deal’ or ‘lot’. Now
colloq. or
slang.| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 121 Out of his sepulture Ther sprong..Of floures such a wonder syhte [etc.]. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) VI. 239 He..brouȝhte to Yorke also a noble siȝhte of bookes. 1449 Paston Lett. I. 85 Ye sawe never suche a syght of schyppys take in to Englond thys c. wynter. 1538 Leland Itin. (1769) V. 91 A great redy Poole, whither an innumerable sight of Stares resort at night. 1577–82 Breton Flourish upon Fancie Wks. (Grosart) I. 10/1 A sight of Asses then, there stoode in Battell ray. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iii. iii, O ye Gods, what a sight of things do not I want? 1752 Stukeley Mem. (1882) I. 83 An infinite sight of rare flowers. 1778 Sheridan & Tickell Camp i. ii, They wear..a large hat and feather, and a mortal sight of hair. 1800 Jane Austen Lett. (1884) I. 231 She expresses herself more warmly than the rest, for she sends him a ‘sight of thanks’. 1871 M. Collins Marq. & Merch. III. viii. 216 A sight of gentlemen goes over to see that old lady. |
b. Used adverbially.
colloq. or
slang.| 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney II. 49 One..eats and drinks a considerable sight more than one does at home. 1854 Hawthorne in Bridge Pers. Recoll. (1893) 144 It is a devilish sight harder to write to a President..than to a private man. 1860 Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. i. ii, He's had a fine sight more schoolin' nor I ever got. 1889 G. Allen Tents of Shem II. 122 You're a sight too clever for me to talk to. 1931 R. Campbell Georgiad i. 12 He could be..heterosexual with either, too—A damn sight more than you or I could do! 1958 Times 16 Oct. 17/1 Surrey..will have to do a sight better than they did yesterday if they are to make their presence fittingly felt in the current Rugby Union county championship. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xii. 241 Be a sight cooler there than it is here, I reckon. 1979 C. P. Snow Coat of Varnish xvi. 133 Money might be fun, but if I had to choose I'd a damn sight rather try for the top jobs. |
c. Phr.
by a long, damn, etc., sight, by a long way, by a good deal (
usu. in negative contexts).
U.S. colloq.| 1834 C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing 41 ‘Gineral, do you want another report?’ ‘Not by a darn'd sight.’ 1840 Niles' Register 9 May 149/2 He asked him if he was not going for Harrison and the whigs. ‘No,’ said he, ‘not by a d―d sight.’ 1844 Republican Sentinel (Richmond, Va.) 22 June 1/2 These animals begin to venture out a little of nights, since the Baltimore Convention, but are slyer by a long sight than foxes. 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn i. 5, I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said not by a considerable sight. 1894 ― in Century Mag. Mar. 779/2 It ain't on'y jist Essex blood dat's in you, not by a long sight. 1931 E. O'Neill Mourning becomes Electra (1932) 248 But I don't wish to convey that he approves of all I've set down—not by a damned sight! 1959 E. Pound Thrones ciii. 88 But not his fault by a damn sight. 1976 M. Machlin Pipeline xxii. 272 The excitement ain't through here by a damn sight. |
† 3. Aspect, appearance, look.
Obs.| c 1205 Lay. 25586 Com an wunderlic deor æst in þan leofte ladlic an sehte. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 147 Ely of fairest place, of fairest siȝt roucestre. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 57 Þat dungun in þat deope dale þat dredful is of siht. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xi. 2 Preise thou not a man in his fairnesse; ne dispise thou a man in his siȝt [L. visu]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 452/1 Semely, yn syghte, decens. 1486 Bk. St. Albans c vj, Neuer the lees this engraylyng is no propur langage aftir the sight of thys cros. 1535 Coverdale Ezek. xliii. 2 His sight to loke vpon was like the first. 1581 Marbeck Bk. Notes 280 His bearde, which was now growne and did chaunge the sight of his face verie much. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ezek. i. 22 comm., A similitude over the heades of the living creatures of the firmament, as it were the sight of christal dreadful. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 532 All that by false weights, false measures, or false sights have imposed upon their customers. |
II. 4. a. The perception or apprehension
of something by means of the eyes; the presentation
of a thing to the sense of vision.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 94 Ȝe schulen hebben..þe brihte sihðe of Godes nebscheft. a 1300 Cursor M. 10841 Þis leuedi duted noght þe sight O þis angel þat was sa bright. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1239 Wel hath Fortune y-turned thee the dys, That hast the sighte of hire, and I thabsence. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (1895) 75 The sonne of a heerd man, the whyche was as deed only by the syghte of the sayde dragon. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xxiii. 68 They loste y⊇ syght of y⊇ castell, it was clene vanysshyd a way. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. i. 31 Wee had on our left hande the sight of the Ilandes. 1635 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Banish'd Virg. 30 But no sooner lost shee once the sight of him [etc.]. 1640 Bp. Reynolds Passions Ep. Ded., So far hath your Highness vouchsafed (having happened on the sight of this Tractate) to express favour thereunto. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 15 Therefore he never inform'd the Captain of the Sight of Land. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxxii, I did think the sight on her would but vex your Reverence. 1845 Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 27 Unable any longer to bear the sight of one who had pleaded guilty to so great a crime. 1885 E. Garrett At Any Cost v. 85 He had had a preconceived idea which the sight of Mr. Sandison shattered for ever. |
b. With possessive
pron. or genitive case.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 79 Ierusalem bitacneð griþes sihþe. c 1200 Ormin 674 Ȝiff he seþ þatt mann iss ohht Forrfæredd off hiss sihhþe. c 1275 Moral Ode 361 in O.E. Misc., Nis þer no Murehþe so muchel so is godes syhte. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. T. 866 If þat youre eyen kan nat seen aright, Looke þat youre mynde lakke noght his sight. 1594 Daniel Cleopatra iv. 1074 Although they need such actors of deceit, Yet still our sight seemes to vpbraid their wrong. 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 255 You must needs dine with me... I am ioyfull of your sights. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. x. 70 You, (alas, that I shou'd find it so!) To shun my sight, your Native Soil forego. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. i. i, When thy lov'd Sight shall bless my Eyes again. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 263 Sully yourselves no longer by my sight! |
c. Without article, chiefly in phrases as
to catch, have, lose sight of.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 106 To ȝiuen þe ancre brihte sihðe of heouene. a 1300 Cursor M. 23330 Þe seli sal o þaim ha sight, Bot þof þai se þam [etc.]. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 57 Feith had first siȝte of hym, ac he flegh on syde. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Ireland (1896) 6 Mych hit gladet his hert..þat he myght in fayr weder haue somdell syght of his lond. c 1595 Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 49 Our Generall sent Captain Jobson and the master to take sight of such commodities as they weare ladend withall. 1674 Boyle Excell. Theol. ii. iii. 155 That he was able at first sight of them to give each of the beasts a name expressive of its nature. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 289 With Sight of Arms and Sounds of Trumpets nurst. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. xii. 263 Our people ran after him.., but as he had the advantage of being on horseback, he soon lost sight of them. 1820 Keats Isabella xlviii, Wondering, Until her heart felt pity to the core At sight of such a dismal labouring. 1837– [see catch v. 46]. 1898 F. Montgomery Tony 13 As if he dreaded losing sight of her. |
| fig. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 73/1 It would not be much Matter what I began upon, for I would presently lose Sight of that. 1837 P. Keith Bot. Lex. 296 The conjecture was not lost sight of by contemporary or succeeding botanists. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 42 The higher the view which men take of life, the more they lose sight of their own pleasure or interest. |
d. The first perception or view
of something. Usually in
phr. at or upon (the) sight of.
| 1471 Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 130 That incontinent vpon the sighte of thies ye schew [etc.]. 1565 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 341 The thrid day nixt eftir the resset and sycht heirof. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. ii. 7 At sight of which the Captaine generall went to lande. 1625 in Rymer Fœdera (1726) XVIII. 60 Upon Sight of theis our Letters Pattents. 1670–98 R. Lassels Voy. Italy ii. 9 The servant upon sight of the paper, presently threw her fifty crowns. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. 361 On sight of them drew up their forces. 1771 Encycl. Brit. III. 351/1 At sight of the sharps or flats prefixed to the tune to be sung,..you have of course the places of the semitones. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xxvii, Sir Roderick..Redden'd at sight of Malcolm Græme. |
e. A position or point commanding or giving a view
of something. Chiefly
in or within († the) sight of. Also
transf.| a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxi. 241 He came within the syght of Burdeux. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xii. 14 Passing further towards the sight of the yles De la Galite, & des Symboles. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 700 Fountaines, built within the sight of it [Ripon]. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. (1669) 279 The 16. About 10. in the morning we passed in sight of Dover-Castle. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 321 When that the army of the Hoppingtots did peregrinate within sight of Gotham. 1822 Shelley tr. Calderon's Mag. Prodig. i. 71 Even within the sight of the high towers of Antioch. 1890 Spectator 29 Nov. 764/1 We are not yet in possession of ritual peace, but for the first time we are fairly in sight of it. |
5. a. A view, look, or glimpse
of something.
| c 1205 Lay. 20929 Nænne siht of londe iseon heo ne mahten. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1623 He nolde þe gywes leue ȝiue..Þat hii moste of þe boru enes abbe an siȝte. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xx. 57 Faith on hym hadde furst a sight ac he fleih a-syde. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) lii, Quen aythir of othir hade a siȝte, Suche a lufue be-tuene hom liȝte. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 240 Schyr Jhone Butler..Out fra his men of Wallace had a sicht. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 204 b, Whan the Pristes not without monye let them have a syght therof. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. 397 [His] presence to me after so long a sight of Hethnike strangers was exceeding comfortable. 1692 Ray in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 198 You should have had a sight of the Copy. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxviii, He had some difficulty, he said, to get a sight of his landlord. 1832 H. Martineau Homes Abroad vii. 99 One sight of a savage in a life-time was as much as most settlers had. 1857 Trollope Barchester T. xii, A sight of you, Mr. Harding, is good for sore eyes. |
† b. at one sight, in a single look, from one point of view.
Obs.| c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 483 Seuyne score of scheildis thai schew at ane sicht. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 283 The City..can not be seene all at one sight; saue on this Mountaine. |
c. fig. A look
into a matter.
Cf. insight n.1 2 b.
| 1592 Greene Ned Browne Wks. (Grosart) XI. 27 There is no Art but he will haue a superficiall sight into. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 131, I joined myself to a house-painter..on condition of his giving me a sight into his business. |
d. Sc. A station on the bank of a river, etc., from which the movements of salmon are observed.
| 1805 State Leslie of Powis, etc. 56 (Jam.), That the fishers used sights, during the fishing season, upon Fraserfield's grounds..; that the westmost sight was above the Fluicky⁓shot [etc.]. |
e. Poker. A show of hands;
spec. one called for by a player who has insufficient chips or money to equal another's bet, but bets as much as he can.
U.S.| 1821 G. Long Hoyle's Games Improved 162 The youngest hand..may call a sight... If he calls a sight the cards must be shown in rotation, the player who calls showing last, and the best hand shown wins the pool. 1850 H. G. Bohn Bohn's New Hand-bk. Games 381 Should one of the party over-reach the amount that is in possession of an adversary, a ‘sight’ may be demanded. 1887 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 23 Jan. 15/7 Then a rule sprang up that a man should be allowed a sight for his money. 1940 O. Jacoby On Poker 150 Even though a player's hand is beaten in sight, he should make no move to fold it except in his proper turn. 1964 E. Sinclair Poker v. 142 If a player who is beaten in sight bets against the cinch hand, he will be allowed to withdraw his bet from the pot after his attention had been drawn to the fact that he is beaten in sight. |
f. A sale of packets of uncut diamonds.
| 1940 Economist 2 Mar. 385/1 A significant hint on the likely evolution of the British exchange control technique was provided last week on the occasion of the latest diamond ‘sights’ held in London. 1966 J. Wainwright Crystallised Carbon Pig xv. 74 The Diamond Corporation hold monthly ‘sights’—auctions, I suppose you could call them. They sell anything between three million and five million pounds' worth of stones at each ‘sight’. 1978 Times 9 Mar. 23/6 The rough gems are sold by the CSO at 10 ‘sights’ (sales) a year... London holds the most important sights. |
6. With omission of the dependent genitive, in phrases related to 4 d:
a. at († the, as to the) first sight.
| (a) a 1300 Cursor M. 8029 He kneu þam at þe first sight. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 40 At the firste sight..Men knele to him. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 160 As to the first sicht, it semys that [etc.]. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 43 b, Hys serjante porter, which knewe hym at the fyrste sighte. 1579, 1702 [see first a. 1 e]. 1730 Bailey (fol.), Axiom,..a Proposition whose Truth every Person perceives at the first Sight. |
| (b) a 1593, 1611 [see first a. 1 e]. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 137 In which definition, there is nothing that is not at first sight evident. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 166 ¶3 You may see them at first Sight grow acquainted by Sympathy. 1773 Life N. Frowde 29 I'm glad to see him, however, he has pleased me at first Sight. 1846 Mill Logic i. vi. §1 Propositions which at first sight present themselves as verbal. 1875 [see first a. 1 e]. |
b. at (formerly also on or upon) sight, used
spec. with reference to the payment of bills. Also, in this connexion,
after sight (see
quot. 1835).
| (a) 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 277 Let it be expressed in your bill that the money be paid upon sight. 1682 J. Scarlett Exchanges 63 He that receives a Bill payable at sight, or some dayes after sight, &c. 1708 S. Centlivre Busy Body ii. i, The frugal hand can bills at sight defray. 1767 Franklin Wks. (1887) IV. 86 Being payable in cash, upon sight, by the drawer. 1835 Penny Cycl. IV. 399/1 At first, no doubt, the order was to pay..‘on sight’. Ibid., In modern times, the more frequent practice has been to make them payable at so many days after sight. 1861 Goschen For. Exch. 53 We have..considered all bills as drawn payable at sight. |
| (b) 1673 Humours Town 60 One that will play at sight, tilt at sight (that is without Thought or Consideration), and whore at sight. 1721 Ramsay Ode to the Ph― vi, If they command the storms to blaw, Then upo' sight the hailstanes thud. 1773 Phil. Trans. LXIII. 270 Those who are not able to sing at sight. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 205, I swore to shoot the old warrigal at sight. 1892 Speaker 3 Sept. 277/1 The cowboy who lives in constant apprehension of being shot at sight. |
c. at (so many) days' (etc.) sight, of bills.
| 1701 Lond. Gaz. No. 3730/4 A Bill drawn..at 6 days sight. 1716 Ibid. No. 5472/4 A Bill..payable..at 15 Days Sight. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xv, A goldsmith's bill at six days' sight. 1866 Crump Banking v. 100 Inland bills of exchange are drawn on demand, at so many days', or weeks', or months', sight or date, as the case may require. |
7. a. A look or glance (at something or in a certain direction). Now
rare except in slang
phr. to take sights, to observe, to watch.
| c 1275 Moral Ode 280 in O.E. Misc., Þer schule þe wrecche soulen iseon þat sunegeden bi sihtes. 13.. Cursor M. 7886 (Gött.), Þe king kast anis on hir a sight. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxix. iii. 119 Þe damysele caste on hire a siht. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk v, Fortune euer since I was a lad, Did smile vpon mee with a chearefull sight. a 1568 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iii. 18 Be sicht or smyle lat non knaw ȝour intentis. 1611 Cotgr., Oeil, the eye;..a sight, a looke. 1700 Moxon Math. Dict., Compass, an Instrument..much more easy to be understood by a Sight, than the best description. 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 141, I fell..struck blind By the sight within your eyes. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman iii. xx, When you are coming down the alley give a sight up, sir, and you'll see me. 1934 P. Allingham Cheapjack xiv. 175 He pointed out a Rolls-Royce which stopped at the entrance of the fair... ‘Take sights at that Rolls,’ he said. ‘There'll be some right mugs turn up in a minute.’ 1950 R. M. Howe Gross's Criminal Investigation (ed. 4) viii. 163/1 Take sights, looking out (especially for suitable house to break into). 1962 New Statesman 21 Dec. 897/3 Once we have all this information, we start ‘taking sights’, and this means watching the house, from the grounds, for the best part of a week. |
b. An observation with a surveying or other similar instrument; an aim with a gun, etc.
| 1834 Reg. Deb. Congr. U.S. 25 Feb. 691, I supposed for once in my life I saw gentlemen in the open field, and might be able to draw a fine sight upon them. 1835 Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. viii. 121 Some sights obtained for the chronometer gave the longitude 94° 40{p}. 1849 H. Miller Footpr. Creator Pref. (1874) p. lxvi, Across which he may safely take his sights and lay down his angles. 1882 Floyer Unexpl. Baluchistan 151 All the way down I was either taking sights or working them out, and soon got pretty handy with my sextant. |
c. slang. (See
quots.)
| 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney II. 77 She proceeded to place her two hands extended in a right line from the tip of her nose.., after the fashion of what is called taking a double sight. 1860 Slang Dict. 214 ‘To take a sight at a person,’ a vulgar action employed by street boys to denote incredulity, or contempt for authority, by placing the thumb against the nose and closing all the fingers except the little one, which is agitated in token of derision. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 186/1 Playfully ‘taking a sight’ with extended finger and thumb. |
d. U.S. ‘A straight stretch of road, as one along which a sight may be taken in surveying; a line uninterrupted by a bend or an elevation’ (
Cent. Dict.).
| 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. 303 In North Carolina the distance that can be seen on a road is called a sight. |
III. 8. a. The faculty or power of seeing, as naturally inherent in the eye; eyesight.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 61 Ȝif he binimeð us ure sihte,..oðer us crokeð on fote oðer on honde. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 27 Ore swete louerd..smot him and bi-nam him is siȝt. 13.. Sir Beues 3108 Þow hauest so swonke.., Þow hauest neȝ for-lore þe siȝt. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 308 Þre siȝtis fallen to man; þe first is bodili siȝt, þat falliþ to mannis eien, þe while he wakiþ. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 8 He began first graving in metallis, to plesauns of the sith. 1484 Caxton Fables of Alfonce xii, I praye to the goddes that they vouchesauf to send me my syght ageyne. 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Sight, ueve, uision. 1599 Davies Immort. Soul xxx. 13 Most Eyes have perfect Sight, tho' some be blind. 1637 Heywood Lond. Spec. Wks. 1874 IV. 315 Sight is the most soveraigne sence, the first of five. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. Pref. 15 The knowledge of Man..hath hitherto been determin'd by the view or sight. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 145 They are exceeding nimble, of an exquisite quick Sight. 1832 H. Martineau Ella of Gar. iii. 35 He has a keener sight into the place of storms than we. 1833 Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound 77 A spectacle that turns The sight o' the eyes to pity. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 7 His sight was exquisitely keen and clear. |
b. fig. Mental or spiritual vision. With definite article,
spec. = second sight. Chiefly
Sc.| c 1200 Ormin 5799 Fowwre der..Þatt Godess þeww Ezechyel Sahh þurrh gastlike sihhþe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 94 Þis..cnowunge kumeð of gostliche sihðe. c 1350 S. Ambrosius 43 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 8/2 Þat inward siht Þat Ambrose hedde in God Almiht. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 308 Þe þridde..is siȝt of mynde of mannis soule. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 2848 Ȝif þat euery wiȝt Aduerten schuld & castyn in his siȝt Of future þing [etc.]. a 1586 Sidney Ps. xxv. i, To thee, O Lord most just, I lift my inward sight. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. i. xiv. §7 The sight of their Mind more directly penetrative into the Divine presence. 1735 Bolingbroke On Parties 135 The Sight of the Mind differs very much from the Sight of the Body. 1781 Cowper Charity 395 The soul, whose sight all-quick'ning grace renews. 1924 W. Holtby Crowded Street xxix. 195 They say she's got the ‘sight’—you know, second sight. 1925 W. Duke Scotland's Heir x. 223 At the last the Sight came upon him, and he reared upright, crying with outflung arms that he saw bloody claymores. 1959 E. H. Clements High Tension v. 80 The factor stared at him. ‘Why, Kilmorrin, you have the sight!’ 1977 C. McCarry Secret Lovers x. 129, I do believe you see me in everything I do. If you haven't the sight, then what is the explanation? |
c. Contrasted with
faith.
| c 1382 Bible (Wyclif) 2 Cor. v. 7 For we walken bi feith, and not bi cleer siȝt. 1611 Ibid. (A.V.), For we walke by faith, not by sight. 1834 J. H. Newman Parochial Sermons I. xvii. 258 And all these inducements to live by sight and not by faith are greatly increased, when men are engaged in any pursuit which properly belongs to the intellect. 1858 W. Brock Sir H. Havelock xiii. 216 He might well have doubted of success had he walked by sight. 1871 H. Alford in Hymns Anc. & Mod. (1875) 285/1 Forward, marching eastward Where the heaven is bright, Till the veil be lifted, Till our faith be sight. 1981 M. Green I believe in Satan's Downfall vii. 201 To walk by sight would be the very antithesis of the trusting walk of faith to which God's Messiah, along with all men, was called. |
9. a. The sense or power of vision in relation to the individual possessing or exercising it;
freq. approaching to a concrete use,
= eye or eyes.
† Formerly also in
pl. of a number of persons, etc.
| c 1200 Ormin 5495 Wiþþ þatt itt iss inn heoffness ærd Biforenn Godess sihhþe. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 904 He is to ure sihðe unsehelich in his ahne cunde. a 1300 Cursor M. 7886 Þe king kest ans on hir his sight. 1340 Ayenb. 267 Ich wente myne ziȝþe uor to yzi þe ilke holy ordres of þe gostes. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 206 To make his soule fair..to goddis siȝtte as he makiþ him bisi..for þe siȝtte of men. c 1450 in Aungier Syon (1840) 307 Kepyng ther syȝth, and ther countynaunce saddly and religiously. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop iii. x, Thow arte now moche playsaunt and fayr to the syghte of me. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 35 The same are pale under their syghte and leane. 1592 Greene Disput. Conny Catch. Wks. (Grosart) X. 257 He..would present his hart as a Tragick sacrifice to the sight of his cruel mistresse. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 587 The slipp'ry God will..various Forms assume, to cheat thy sight. 1700 ― Sigism. & Guisc. 715 Nor farther word she spoke, but closed her sight. a 1771 Gray Tophet 5 Our mother-church with half-averted sight. 1827 Keble Chr. Y. 7 A fouler vision yet; an age of light, Light without love, glares on the aching sight. |
| pl. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. ix. (Percy Soc.) 33 O all ye cursed and such evyll fooes, Whose syghtes be blynded over all wyth foly. 1589 Greene Tullie's Love Wks. (Grosart) VII. 112 Beautiful Ladies tickled with an earnest desire to satisfie their sightes with his Personage. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 125 From the hill tops wee dazell our sights in view of that sandy, stony, sterill desert. |
b. in one's sight, before one's eyes.
| c 1205 Lay. 25597 Me þuhte a mire sihȝeðe [c 1275 in mine sihte] þat þa sæ gon to berne. a 1300 Cursor M. 622 Fiss on sund, and fouxl on flight, Was broght all fort in his sight. 1382 Wyclif Rev. xiii. 13 It made fijr for to come doun fro heuen in to erthe, in the siȝt of alle men. c 1450 Holland Howlat 62 Be I seyne in thar sicht,..Sum will me dulfully dicht. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xliv. (Percy Soc.) 214 All thyng was visible In Goddes syght. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 5 b, He was advised by his frendes not to come in the Cardinalles syght. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 232 In the sight of the World, so as none should be able to denie it. 1812 Crabbe Tales ii. 370 His wife, his children, weeping in his sight. |
c. to sight, to the eye; so as to be seen.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23968 Þai had him bath for-driuen and draun, Als sceud es us to sight. a 1400–50 Alexander 1252 It was semand to siȝt as all þe soyle trymblid. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 28 We hard of no showting, too sight no sister apered. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Art Poet. 208 He breaks to Light, And pours his specious Miracles to Sight. 1784 Cowper Task i. 602 Not rude and surly,..And terrible to sight. |
10. a. The range or field of one's vision; chiefly in
phr. out of one's sight. Also
spec. (
quot. c 1865).
| c 1200 Ormin 3387 Þeȝȝ wenndenn fra þa wakemenn All ut off þeȝȝre sihhþe. c 1350 Will. Palerne 420 [He told] how sone of his seiȝt þe bestes seþþen ware. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 377 Or be me lief or be me loth, Out of my sighte forth he goth. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 19 For he na tyme suld be fra hys sicht. 1595 Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Horizon, the circle bounding our sicht. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 18 The visible things are gone out of our sight. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 500 Watchful Herons..Gain on the Skies, and soar above the Sight. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. (1812) I. vi. 321 The two armies lay in sight of each other. 1772–84 Cook's Voy. (1790) V. 1787 The ridge of mountains is interrupted by a plain of several leagues in extent, beyond which the sight was unbounded. 1819 Shelley Cenci i. iii. 168 Now get thee from my sight. c 1865 Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 76/1 The difficulty experienced by all persons.., is to find what is called their ‘sight’; that is, the focal distance of the lens. |
b. Without article, in the phrases
in sight,
out of sight. See also
out-of-sight adj. phr. (
n.)
| (a) a 1300 Cursor M. 15884 Petre he folud him on ferr, For durst he noght in sight. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 175 Blessed mote þei alle be..That neuere shal se me in siȝte as þow doste nouthe. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) xxxvii, He wende that no mon hade him herd, For he seȝhe non in siȝte. 1550 Crowley Last Trumpet 1330 Kepe Gods feare in syght. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. ii. lxxix. (1674) 231 For fear of their Creditors, they have all played least-in-sight. 1717 Pope Iliad x. 222 And hostile Troy was ever full in Sight. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxvii, Bothwell Bridge was at a little distance, and also in sight. 1887 Bowen æneid iii. 220 Goats in the meadows feeding without one watchman in sight. |
| (b) ? a 1400 Arthur 342 Þey sayleþ faste: Arthour owt of syȝt ys paste. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione i. xxiii. 30 Whan man is oute of siȝt, sone he passiþ oute of mynde. c 1530 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. 79 If thou must spit, or blow thy nose, keepe thou it out of sight. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 133 Out of sight out of minde. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 171 As soon as I was out of sight, I walked further towards the East. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 77 ¶6 Remembering the old Proverb, Out of Sight out of Mind, I left the Room. 1797–1805 S. & H. Lee Cant. T. I. 350 He perceived [them] driven down the coast, and nearly out of sight. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxiii, When the sea breeze died away she was nearly out of sight. 1885 Law Rep. 14 Q.B.D. 874 He remained, as he alleged, out of sight of anyone entering the shop. |
c. out of (all) sight, immeasurably, beyond all comparison.
| 1821 in Byron's Wks. (1846) 586/1, I consider Don Juan as out of all sight the best of your works. 1835 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 26 In most respects my situation is out of sight more suitable than it was at Craigenputtock. 1880 Ch. Times 22 Oct. 684 Under the old management, it was out of sight the most comic journal in England. |
11. a. The exercise of the faculty of vision; the act of seeing or looking;
esp. by sight,
freq. denoting merely visual, as contrasted with more intimate, knowledge.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 183 Me knoweþ hem in eche lond bi siȝte þar me hem seþ. c 1330 Assump. Virg. 628 (Brit. Mus.), Oure mayne þee knewe þat ilke nyȝt, Bothe bi speche and by syȝt. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 13, I..soiled it with syȝte or sum ydel speche. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xx. (Percy Soc.) 98 On whome my hole delyght Dayly was sette, upon her to have sight. a 1568 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xiv. 5 The kocatrice keilis w{supt} hir sicht. 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xvi. 172 A thousand sortes of hearbes and flowers,..in such sort, as a man cannot well conceive them without sight. 1680 Evelyn Diary 30 Aug., He told us that the things most worthy of our sight would be [etc.]. 1700 J. A. Astry tr. Saavedra-Faxardo I. 334 Then came flocking to him..those too who knew him not but by sight. 1831 Society I. 292, I assure you I mistook the person; Lord Conway is barely known to me by sight. |
b. Examination, inspection, scrutiny.
bill of sight: (see
quot. 1821).
In
quots. 1452 and 1655 sense 12 a is possible.
| 1452–3 Cal. Rec. Dublin (1889) 278 To gywe in the names of the tenantis..by the sighte of R. Dowdall. 1619 in W. Foster Eng. Factories in India (1906) 79 Pretending itt to reserve them only for his first sight. 1655 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 188 Repaired and amended..at y⊇ sight and discression of Mr. Maior. 1662 Order Ho. Comm. as to Customs (1663) 1 For a Bill of sight, Bill of Sufferance, or any other imperfect Warrant. 1821 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs 327 A Merchant,..ignorant of the real quantities and qualities of his Goods,..may apply to the Collector and Comptroller for a Bill of Sight or View, in order that they may be brought on shore and examined. 1833 Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 52 §24 An entry by Bill of Sight. |
c. line of sight: (
cf. line n.2 11). Also
transf. with reference to the transmission of radio waves, etc.;
freq. attrib. (with hyphens);
line-of-sight velocity = radial velocity.
| 1559 [see line n.2 11]. 1893 Ball Story of Sun 184 The amount of their movements along the line of sight. 1920 A. S. Eddington Space, Time & Gravitation viii. 135 In the case of the sun we know by other evidence exactly what the line-of-sight velocity should be; but we have not this knowledge for other stars. 1955 Times 18 July 8/2 The others [sc. ways of transmitting radio waves], employing in one case ‘very high’, and in the other ‘ultra high’ frequencies, are extremely reliable but until now they have been limited to line-of-sight transmission. 1956 H. S. Jones in A. Pryce-Jones New Outl. Mod. Knowledge 129 When the first measurements of the line-of-sight velocities of some of these objects [sc. spiral nebulae] were made, they were found to be surprisingly large. 1963 G. Troup Masers & Lasers (ed. 2) ix. 158 Infra-red masers might be applied to line-of-sight terrestrial communications. 1972 Sci. Amer. Feb. 76/1 Microwave radio links are limited to line-of-sight operation. |
12. a. Opinion, estimate, judgement; respect, regard, view. Now
rare.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 11853 ‘Godd men,’ he said, ‘quat es your sight O mi fader þat þus es dight?’ 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 32 Summe chosen Chaffare to cheeuen þe bettre, As hit semeþ to vre siht þat suche men scholden. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3289 The secunde sir..þat sewede thame aftyre Was sekerare to my sighte, and saddare in armes. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. ix. xix. (1541) B b iv, He had nothir reuerence to god, nor sicht to the commoun weil. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 419 At youre awin sychtis sche will sett fordwart that caus at hir power. 1607 in Antiquary XXXII. 242 To be disposed at the sight of [supervisors of will]. 1674 Playford's Skill Mus. iii. 2, I assume that the true sight and judgment of the upper three must proceed from the lowest. 1851 Westcott Introd. Study Gospels viii. (ed. 5) 396 The first step to a right understanding of the Gospels must be the abandonment of this point of sight. |
† b. Knowledge, skill, insight. Const.
in.
Obs. (Very common in the 16th
cent.)
| 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Sight, knowledge, perspicasité. 1535 Cranmer Misc. Writ. (Parker Soc.) II. 303 Surely I do much marvel of them both..having such sight in scriptures and doctors. 1581 in Confer. ii. (1584) M iij, His sight in Greke was very litle or none at all. 1600 Dr. Dodypoll i. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV. 108 His sweete discourse, His sight in Musick and in heavenlie Arts. |
IV. 13. a. The pupil of the eye. Now
dial.| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 247 Macula is a wem in a mannys iȝe, & summe be white þerof & sittiþ vpon þe siȝt of þe iȝe, & summe bisidis þe siȝt. 1530 Palsgr. 270/1 Sight of the eye, le noyre de loyil. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 155 In either eie they haue two sights or apples. 1683 Snape Anat. Horse iii. viii. (1686) 123 The horney Tunicle or Coat of the Eye, with the pupilla or sight. 1736 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 14 What they mean by the Ground of the Eye, is the Pupil or Hole thro' the Iris and Uvea, which the common People call the Sight of the Eye. 1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins xiv. (1883) 43/1 His eyes were small and blue, with a large black sight in the middle. 1808 Jamieson, Sicht of the ee. 1889 in Eng. Dial. Dict. (Yorksh.). |
† b. A visor.
Obs.| 1508 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IV. 122 For the grathing of the gilt ermyt [sic] my Lord of Owbigne gaif the King and for making of ane new sicht to it. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 197 b, The point of the axe of the lord Scales happened to enter into the sight of the healme of the bastard. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 121 Their eyes of fire, sparkling through sights of Steele. 1654–66 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 647 He pull'd down the sight of his Helmet. |
c. pl. Spectacles. Now
dial.| 1619 H. Hutton Follies Anat. (Percy Soc.) 39 An aged man, which spectacles did use Having them filcht.., Fearing the thiefe would not his sights restore [etc.]. 1667 Pepys Diary 18 Oct., I bought me two new pair of spectacles of Purlington..; and his daughter..do advise me two very young sights. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 350 Sights, spectacles, glasses. 1899 in Eng. Dial. Dict. |
† d. (See
quot.)
Obs.—1| 1640 in Entick London (1766) II. 165 Glass-plates, or sights for looking-glasses. |
14. a. An appendage to a surveying or observing instrument, serving to guide the eye.
| 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 137 A ruler with two sightes, which we moue to and fro. 1571 Digges Pantom. i. vii. D j b, Forget not to haue two equall fine plates of brasse persed in the middes (for your sightes). 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. xvi. 93 Take the Quadrant and look through the Sight at E. 1676 Phillips Purch. Pattern 131 If a man have but a Ruler with sights..he may draw the foresaid lines to the several angles of the field. 1715 tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 282 A Quadrant..and an Index moving upon its Center, furnished with Telescopic Sights. 1790 Burke Fr. Revol. Wks. V. 312 An accurate land-surveyor, with his chain, sight, and theodolite. 1833 Herschel Astron. ii. 83 The tube or sight, fastened on the circle, works in the solid metallic centring. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 93/1 This prism..has, when so placed, a notched ‘sight’ on its upper surface. |
b. A device, of the nature of a projection or notch, on a fire-arm or piece of ordnance, etc., to assist in taking aim; a telescopic device or other optical aid designed for this purpose;
in one's sights, visible through the sights of one's gun; also
fig.,
esp. in
phr. to raise one's sights, to adopt a more ambitious objective.
In fire-arms and ordnance the sights are usually two in number, one at or near the muzzle and the other near the breech, the latter being adjustable so as to vary with the distance. In large guns the forms are often very complex.
| 1588 Lucar tr. Tartaglia's Colloq. Shooting 18 When the levell sight which is set uppon the mouth of the peece is precisely so high as the levell sight which is set uppon the taile of the peece. 1591 Sir J. Smyth Instr. Milit. 191 All their mosquets should be of one heigth or caliver of bullets with open sights. 1647 Hexham i, The sight of a crosse⁓bow, het gesight. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1128 The sight in a gun or cross-bow, scutula. 1847 Infantry Man. (1854) 34 The foresight is aligned through the back sight with the object. 1890 Times 6 Dec. 15/3 Thousands of rounds were fired so rapidly..that in some cases the sights were actually melted. 1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path i. 20 I've got 'im in my sights, and 'e's getting bigger all the time. 1950 Economist 9 Dec. 1002/2 The United States must now raise its sights, in terms of both manpower and production. 1956 A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 151 Colonel Marshall..had helped greatly in raising our sights as to the magnitude of the production task. Ibid. 339 It is in part the competition between societies that is forcing us to readjust our educational sights. 1959 N.Z. Listener 10 July 4/2, I did, for many months, seeing apprehensively that the Army would be raising its sights on compulsory marshalling of our manpower little by little. 1962 Times 26 Apr. 7/3 Set your sights a little higher than the kitchen and try to trim your appearance to the job. Ibid. 5 Dec. 4/3 Lawry setting his sights on a century. 1967 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 5 Dec. (1970) 596 First, he said, we have raised our sights. We have set our national goals to have a clean country. 1971 Nature 31 Dec. 499/2 Two years ago, the Government Actuary was estimating that the population would have grown from 56 million at present to..68 million by the turn of the century, but he has since been forced by more recent trends to lower his sights. 1976 J. Snow Cricket Rebel 35 They were not Gloucestershire batsmen at the other end of my sights that day but the England selectors. |
c. Any of a number of nails in the sides and ends of a billiard table, used in marking out the table for some forms of carom billiards.
| 1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 419 A line is drawn down the centre of the table, from the centre nails or sights in the head and lower cushions. 1890 Champlin & Bostwick Cycl. Games & Sports 81/1 Each carom table has on it two spots, along an imaginary line drawn lengthways through the centre from the middle rails or ‘sights’ in the head and lower cushions: the first, opposite the second ‘sight’, is sometimes called the light red spot, the second, opposite the sixth ‘sight’, the dark red spot. 1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 939/1 In the case of the Triangular Baulk-line, lines are drawn at the four corners from the second ‘sight’ on the side-rails to the first sight on the end-rails, forming four triangles within which only a limited number of caroms may be made. |
15. The opening in a picture-frame; that part of the picture which shows in this.
| 1850 [see sight-measure in 17]. |
V. 16. attrib. and
Comb. (chiefly objective), as
sight-aching,
sight-fitting,
sight-hungry,
sight-hunter, etc.
| 1593 Nashe Christ's Tears Wks. (Grosart) IV. 224 The..*sight-acking botches of theyr vnsatiate intemperance, they will vnblushingly lay foorth. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Advenant, handsome,..well beseeming,..*sight-fitting. |
| 1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur v. xii. 349 There the close of the exercises found them, patient and *sight-hungry as at the beginning. |
| 1848 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 185 That professional *sight-hunters should go *sight-hunting. |
| 1743 Blair Grave 288 The Star-surveying Sage close to his Eye Applies the *Sight-invigorating Tube. |
| 1593 Nashe Christ's Tears Wks. (Grosart) IV. 194 *Sight-killingly with his..frownes, he shall teache him, both that he is, and what he is. |
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. i. Vocation 1008 What can the Sight of the *Sight-maker dim? |
| 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 203 Ioues Lightning, the precursers O'th dreadfull Thunder⁓claps more momentarie And *sight out-running were not. |
| 1870 Lowell Study Wind. I. 12 Their enemies were hidden in their own *sight-proof bush. |
| 1784 Cowper Task iv. 759 That *sight-refreshing green Is still the liv'ry she [Nature] delights to wear. |
| 1814 F. Burney Let. 24 Aug. (1978) VII. 438 But for Heaven's sake send him no more *sight-seekers, who expect ‘The Hero’ to give dinners, & shew Lyons! 1844 Alb. Smith Adv. Mr. Ledbury vi, The majority of sight-seekers..know..little about the venerable edifice. 1895 E. Owen in Wks. G. Edwards p. ix, There were then no fashionable inns to give accommodation to sight-seekers. |
| 1896 Cath. Mag. June 350 It would be happiness to add its name to our list of *sight-seen countries. |
| 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 31 Monsters of nature, Nile-bred Crocodiles, *Sight-slaying Basilisks. |
| 1676 Marvell Mr. Smirke 44 The King of Virginia, that had two Squires..to lift up his Eye-lids... I am not bound to be any of his *Sight-supporters. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 613 There was a slight attack of left hemiplegia with headache, vertigo, and *sight-troubles. |
b. In terms relating to the taking of surveys or observations, or denoting appliances used for this purpose, as
sight-alidade,
sight-aligner,
sight-angle,
sight-beam, etc.
| 1900 H. M. Wilson Topogr. Surveying vii. 161 A small *sight-alidade was devised by the author both for sighting directions, and for determining elevations by vertical angulation. |
| 1892 Greener Breech-Loader 97 The *sight-aligner and adjustable gun, invented in 1882. |
| 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xxxiv. K iij b, From the Centre thereof, extend right lines.., wryting as before vppon euery of them the names of their places or markes, whereof they are the *sight Angles. |
| a 1400 in Halliw. Rara Mathem. (1841) 63 Go toward it and froward it til þi *sight beme passe by þe heght of þe ȝerde and of þat thyng. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. xiii. 82 The Sight-beams over the ends of the Crosses. |
| 1859 Ruskin Perspective i. 99 The *Sight-magnitude of a line is the magnitude which bears, to the real line, the same proportion that the distance of the picture bears to the distance of the object. |
| 1835 C. F. Hoffman Winter in West II. 171 The long western rifle has three *sight-pieces on the barrel. 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl i. 24 Sight-piece small and close to the muzzle. |
| 1859 Ruskin Perspective Introd. 9 The point S is to represent the point opposite which you wish the observer of your picture to place his eye in looking at it. Call this point the *Sight-point. |
| 1883 R. G. White W. Adams 121 He threw up his left arm, and took a *sight rest on it [with his revolver]. |
| 1731 W. Halfpenny Perspective p. iv, The Groove E, wherein the *Sight-Staff slides to and fro. |
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. xiv. 85 If you see all Skie and no Water, then draw your *Sight-Vane a little lower. 1863 A. Young Naut. Dict. (ed. 2) 297 The sight vanes are pieces of brass standing perpendicularly to the plane of the instrument. |
c. In terms relating to the practice of watching the keys of a typewriter while typing, as
sight method,
sight system,
sight technique,
sight typing,
sight typist,
sight writer,
sight writing.
Cf. touch-typing, etc.
s.v. touch-.
| 1904 A. E. Morton Mod. Typewriting (ed. 2) 12 There are two methods of manipulation, one the ‘touch’, and the other the ‘sight’ system. 1918 M. B. Owen Typewriting Speed 145 The constant shifting of the eyes in sight writing. Ibid. 147 The sight typist writes spasmodically. Ibid. 153 Many sight writers use all the fingers. 1928 M. Crooks Touch Typewriting for Teachers ii. 10 A typist writing by the Sight method expends about six times as much..energy..as that expended by the Touch typist. Ibid. 11 The properly trained Touch typist is capable of greater speed than the Sight typist. 1935 A. C. Marshall Princ. Teaching Typewriting i. 1 It is..hardly necessary now to advocate the ‘touch’ system as against ‘sight-typing’. Ibid. 2 The maximum speed ever attained by a sight-typist has never exceeded 60 per cent of that of equivalent touch experts. 1969 L. J. West Acquisition of Typewriting Skills viii. 183 Will not early sight typists form a habit of sight typing?.. How does one wean learners away from sight techniques? |
17. Special combs.:
sight bar, a metal bar forming part of the breech-sight of a gun;
sight bill U.S., a bill of exchange payable on presentation;
sight-board = sight-screen below;
sight-chase, a chase in which the dogs hunt by sight;
sight cheque,
U.S., a cheque or draft payable on presentation;
† sight-court, a place for public shows;
sight draft = sight cheque;
sight edge Naut. (see
quot. 1948);
sight feed, a device through which the feeding of lubricant or fuel may be seen; also (with hypen)
attrib.;
sight gag, a joke which achieves its effect visually;
† sight-glasses, spectacles;
sight-holder, a diamond merchant entitled to buy diamonds at a sight (see sense 5 f above);
sight liability, an obligation to pay money on presentation of a cheque or bill of exchange;
sight-line, (
a) (see
quot. 1859); (
b) a straight line extending from the eye of a spectator to an object or area being watched;
spec. a line from the eye of a spectator in a theatre to the edge of the part of the stage which that spectator can see;
sight-measure (see sense 15);
sight-player, one who is able to play music at sight; so
sight-playing;
sight-read v. intr. and trans., to read (a piece of music) at sight;
sight-reader, one who is able to read music at sight; so
sight-reading;
sight record Ornith., a record of the sighting (not the capture) of a bird;
sight-screen = screen n.1 1 g;
sight-setter, on a warship, a member of a gun-crew whose duty is to keep the gun-sight at the correct elevation as shown by the range indicator (see also
quot. 1973);
† sight-shot, the range of vision;
sight-singing, the practice or art of singing at sight;
sight tube, (
a) a tube through which observations are made; (
b) a transparent tube connected to a tank or cistern so as to display the level of the liquid inside it.
| 1884 Naval Encycl. 751/2 *Sight-bar, a metal bar on which the range in yards, or in degrees, is marked. It is a part of the breech-sight, and, by raising or lowering it, different ranges are obtained. 1920 Carter & Arnold Field Artillery Instruction iii. 47 The rocking bar sight consists of a rocking bar..and a sight bar. |
| 1853 Southern Literary Messenger XIX. 89/2 Mr. Thompson agreed to accommodate him with a *sight bill on his correspondent in Raleigh. 1887 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 5 May 7/3 Eastern exchange was firm, and there were more buyers than sellers of New York sight bills at 80c per $1,000 premium. 1898 K. S. Ranjitsinhji With Stoddart's Team (ed. 4) iii. 49 [At Adelaide] the *sight-boards behind the bowler's arm appeared to be but reminders of the existence of such things for a better purpose in England. 1955 Miller & Whittington Cricket Typhoon i. i. 13 Tiny white pavilion and tinier white sight-boards. 1975 N. Nicholson Wednesday Early Closing vi. 129 Every..excuse for hindrance and delay was..tried—asking for the sight-boards to be moved,..looking round at the fielders, testing the bat. |
| 1897 Outing XXX. 127/1 Just in time to witness a short but pretty ‘*sight chase’. The dogs have seen the fox. |
| 1863 ‘E. Kirke’ My Southern Friends xxii. 232, I enclose you *sight check of Branch Bank of Cape Fear on Bank of Republic, for $10,820. |
| 1553 N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices (1556) 87 *Sightcourts, galereywalkes, and new churches, the more reuerentlie I fynde fault with for Pompeyus sake. |
| 1850 G. N. Jones Florida Plantation Rec. (1927) 60 Your favor of the 22nd ult. enclosing *sight draft on Messrs Habersham for $200. 1904 ‘O. Henry’ Cabbages & Kings xiv. 254 It's a gold mine. It's a sight-draft on your president man for twenty thousand dollars. 1979 O. Sela Petrograd Consignment 34 At the bank..letters of authority were presented, mandates altered and instructions given for the preparation of sight drafts. |
| 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 971/1 The projections of the plate and longitudinal *sight edges are drawn in the body plan on the floor. 1948 R. de Kerchove Internat. Maritime Dict. 676/2 Sight edge, the edges of the plates, in clinker-built plating, which are visible on the outside of the shell, on the top of decks and tank top, and on the opposite side from the stiffeners on bulkheads. |
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 319 *Sight feed lubricator, a lubricator..in which the flowing or non-flowing of the oil is always apparent at sight, being enclosed in, or having to pass through a glass vessel. 1902 A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors ix. 172 If a Dubrulle mechanical lubricator is used, examine the ball valves sometimes, and do not trust entirely to the sight feed. 1928 Daily Tel. 16 Oct. 7 Non-crushable back⁓lamps and sight-feed fuel gauges on the dashboard are in demand for the new cars. 1957 N.Y. Herald Tribune 7 Nov. 24/4 The line gags are like the *sight gags: they're not quite sturdy enough to be up and around yet. 1977 Time 2 May 49/3 I Love My Wife..is dotted with paralyzingly funny sight gags. |
| 1605 tr. P. de Loyes' Treat. Spect. 59 It is well knowne that ordinarily the spectacles or *sight-glasses do make letters to seeme more great than they are indeede. |
| 1973 Times 19 June (Bombay Suppl.) p. xii/3 Bombay has at least 2,000 diamond businesses, of which about 1,400 are members of the Diamond Merchants' Association. Of these 43 are ‘*sight-holders’ of the Diamond Trading Company of London, which means that they are notified of the 10 ‘sightings’ which the DTC holds every year. The sight-holders are the only people in India to whom the DTC will sell. |
| 1930 Economist 27 Sept. 556/2 It may be desirable to modify present standards as regards the ratio of gold cover to notes and *sight liabilities. 1958 Spectator 24 Jan. 97/2 The proportion of sight-liabilities covered by reserves is no better than in 1945. |
| 1859 Ruskin Perspective Introd. 9 Through the Sight-point, S, draw a horizontal line GH, right across your paper from side to side, and call this line the *Sight-line. |
| 1917 E. B. Kinsila Mod. Theatre Construction iv. 60 One of the most important requisites in designing an auditorium is the establishment of correct sight lines. 1957 J. Osborne Entertainer 11 The sight-lines are preserved by swagging. 1958 Archit. Rev. CXXIII. 352/2 The second case [for the substitution of wire fence for hedgerow] is to provide sightlines at corners. 1971 P. Gresswell Environment 264 Sight lines have to be kept open at bends and corners. 1975 I. Melchior Sleeper Agent (1976) ii. 65 He positioned himself so that he had optimum sight lines down the side street. 1977 Time Out 28 Jan.–3 Feb. 43/2 Check seating plan before buying tickets as many seats have restricted sight lines. |
| 1850 Jrnl. of Design IV. 58 *Sight measure 41/8 × 31/8. |
| 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. May 334/2 Ask an accomplished *sight-player how he is able to translate so readily the symbols he reads with the eye into their relative notes. Ibid. 334/1 He maintains that s*ight-playing does not depend upon an accurate knowledge of the relationship between notes and keys. 1944 W. Apel Harvard Dict. Music 680/1 The greatest enemy of sight-playing is playing by heart. |
| 1903 A. W. Patterson Schumann 181 We want more than a facility to ‘*sight read’ in order to fully comprehend. 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene ii. 30 Jazz cannot at present be adequately noted down on paper, and if it could, would almost certainly be far too complex for players to sight-read. 1974 Guardian 22 Mar. 14/4 Paul Beard, the [orchestra] leader, asked him whether he would like to stay on, making him sight-read part of Vaughan Williams's Fourth Symphony as an audition. |
| 1866 Athenæum No. 2000. 277/2 The best *sight-readers in Europe. 1874 Ouseley Mus. Form 5 A man may be a thoroughly accomplished musician,..a perfect sight-reader [etc.]. |
| 1864 Reader 30 Apr. 551/2 The singer's power of independent ‘*sight-reading’. |
| 1934 Brit. Birds XXVIII. 31 All but one of these are ‘*sight-records’, but in some cases the writer had already made the acquaintance of the species in other lands. 1959 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles VIII. 35 A sight-record of a frigate bird observed off the south⁓west coast of Ireland on 25th May 1953 by W. K. Richmond, was published in the Fair Isle Bulletin. |
| 1956 N. Cardus Close of Play 20 The sixth ball..was fielded on the boundary's edge at the *sight-screen behind MacDonald's arm. 1977 T. Heald Just Desserts v. 92 At either end of the ground were white sightscreens on wheels. |
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *Sight-setter. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin xvi. 307 Some order came through a voice-pipe to the gun; whereupon the sight-setter twiddled a small wheel and peered anxiously at a graduated dial. 1920 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 332/2 Dully from the concealed gun positions echoed the calls of the sight⁓setters. 1973 J. Quick Dict. Weapons & Military Terms 400/1 Sight setter, the gun-crew member who sets the range and deflection data ordered by the officer controlling the fire. |
| 1663 Cowley Ess., Obscurity, It only makes me run faster from the place, till I get, as it were, out of *sight-shot. |
| 1801 Busby Dict. Mus. s.v. Solmization, This preparatory exercise, so necessary to *sight-singing. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 29 Oct. 5/2 Sight-singing in elementary schools. |
| 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick III. xxxviii. 221 The crushed copper *sight-tubes of the quadrant. 1859 Times 7 Jan. 8/4 He can enter an enemy's harbour under water and make surveys, only showing above the surface a sight tube, no more than one half inch in diameter, and retire still under water. 1900 W. M. Stine Photometrical Measurements iii. 77 Adjust the telescopic sight tube until the different portions of the field are sharply outlined. 1905 Motor Manual (ed. 7) iv. 78 The oil..enters a series of sight tubes. 1951 Proc. Physical Soc. B. LXIV. 49 The level of the liquid in the annular gap can be deduced from observations of its level in a vertical sight-tube attached to the filling apparatus. |
▸
sight bite n.after
sound bite n. at
sound n.3 Additions
orig. U.S. a brief piece of footage used in television coverage of an event and intended to convey the essence and significance of that event; (hence) a person, image, etc., used in this way, or an event staged for this purpose.
| 1988 Los Angeles Times 29 Aug. (Calendar) 1/6 The pacing, the writing, the sound bites and *sight bites and just about everything else that executive producer Lorne Michaels..brought to this usually thudding evening seemed to work. 1992 Entertainm. Weekly 21 Aug. 14/2 For campaign sight bites, he has adopted Midwestern businessman casual—white shirt and tie, no jacket, rolled-up shirtsleeves—to show he can get down with the guys. 1996 Independent (Electronic ed.) 23 Sept. 4 In an age of presidential political combat—where leaders are presented as the sight bite for party—Mr Ashdown will grab the attention. 2001 Evening Standard (Nexis) 2 Apr. 23 The inexorable rise of the sight bite.., encapsulated by MTV music promos, commercials and any visual entity with a maximum length of five minutes, has created a whole new market for flash performances. |
▪ II. † sight, n.2 Obs. Forms: 4
siȝt(e, 4–6
sight, 6
syght.
[Cf. sight v.2 Not related to Du. zucht, which is for earlier *suft.] A sigh.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 15169 Mani sari sight [v.r. sigh, sikyng]..þar sanc vn-til his hert. c 1350 Will. Palerne 924 My seknes wiþ my siȝtes sumtime slakes. 1584 Lodge Forbonius & Prisceria 30 Not waying of her many louing sightes, Her watrie eyes, her secret moane by nights. 1584 Pleas. Com. Two Ital. Gentl. D j, By the smoake of loouers scalding sightes [rime flightes]. |
▪ III. † sight, n.3 Obs. rare.
[? ad. LG. sichte: see sift n.] A sieve or strainer.
| 1559 Morwyng Evonym. 376 Pres it out strongly and put the decoction prest out through a wullen sight, and pres it out, that the substance may remaine in the sight. |
▪ IV. sight, v.1 (
saɪt)
Also 6
Sc. sycht,
sicht.
[f. sight n.1 Cf. MDu. sichten, zichten (rare), G. sichten (naut.), Da. sigte, Sw. sigta.] 1. trans. † a. Sc. To look at, view, inspect, examine, scrutinize.
Obs.| 1556 Peebles Burgh Rec. (1872) 234 To..pas done with ane of the baillies to sycht the saidis stanis. 1578 Supplication General Assembly in Misc. Wodrow Soc. (1844) 402 Quhen as zour Grace hes sichtit thir our laboris. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 303 None of us all knowing what was in the Clogbags till they were sighted. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. i. viii. §1 The Body must in this case be sighted by Physitians. 1706 in J. Watson Jedburgh Abbey (1894) 42 That necessar it is workmen be imployed to sight and repair the samyn. |
b. To examine by taking a sight.
| 1884 Truth 13 Mar. 372/1 He reports..that the rails, sighted crosswise, are not as true as they should be. |
2. a. To get or catch sight of, to see, to get or go within sight of (anything).
| 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xiii. lxxvi. 315 Nor doth our Eie⁓sight see it selfe, nor Soule that sighteth it. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 375 Wilde beasts, whose hollow cryes, as we heard in the night, so we too often sighted their bodies in the day. 1819 O'Meara Trans. St. Helena 36 The remarks which he asserts to have been made relative to sighting Napoleon. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. iv. (1856) 33 On the same day..we sighted the mountainous coast of Greenland. 1887 Besant World Went vii, We sighted her one morning at daybreak. |
b. spec. Of bills: (see
quot.).
| 1866 Crump Banking v. 103 A bill drawn at so many days' sight, must be computed exclusively of the day on which it is sighted, and inclusively of the day it falls due. |
c. To take aim at (an object); to level or aim (a fire-arm, etc.) at a target.
| 1871 Harper's Mag. Dec. 48/2 No sooner, however, did he ‘sight’, or try to sight, the horseman in question,..than the thumping against the ribs again began. 1901 F. Norris Octopus ii. vi. 521 With the words, he dropped to one knee, and sighting his rifle carefully, fired into the group of armed men. 1976 D. Storey Saville i. iv. 36 Take out the bullets, and sight it at various objects outside the window. |
3. a. intr. To take a sight,
esp. in shooting.
| 1787 in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1924) XIX. 265 The mother of the complainants wife sighted with a compass from the tree. 1842 J. F. Cooper Jack o' Lantern xxviii, Together they sighted, and together they fired. 1883 Harper's Mag. Jan. 201/1 Then stooping and sighting along it, he moves the outer end of the lath. 1896 Daily News 27 July 9/3 He took matters very coolly, and sighted several times before he was satisfied. |
b. With
in. To correct the sights of (a fire-arm, etc.) by testing and adjustment.
N. Amer.| 1958 Washington Post 31 Oct. d6/3 The Berwyn Rod & Gun Club invites deer hunters to sight-in their rifles during all-day open house sessions on Nov. 2 and Nov. 9. 1971 W. Hillen Blackwater River x. 91, I started him off right by sighting-in his new rifle, and soon he was hitting the apple box every time. 1972 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 24 Sept. 13/1 Heading into the woods with a rifle that hasn't been sighted-in makes no more sense than driving an automobile without a gasoline gauge. 1980 Outdoor Life (U.S.) (Northeast ed.) Oct. 94/3 A Leupold 4X compact scope (made specially for the Kimber rifle) mounted and sighted in at the factory. |
▪ V. † sight, v.2 Obs. Also 5
Sc. sicht-, 6
syght.
[? f. sight(e, pa. tense of siche v.] intr. To sigh.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvi. (Nicholas) 1138 In his hart he mad mayne & sichtit sare. c 1450 Abce in Q. Eliz. Acad. 67 Be not to sadde, to sorry, ne sight not to deep. c 1475 in Rel. Antiq. I. 71 Whan other men doyth sleype, Thene do I syght and weype. |