/ saɪt; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
ABILITY TO SEE
1.
[ U ] the ability to see
SYN eyesight :
to lose your sight (= to become blind)
She has very good sight.
The disease has affected her sight.
He has very little sight in his right eye.
ACT OF SEEING
2.
[ U ] sight of sb/sth the act of seeing sb/sth :
After ten days at sea, we had our first sight of land.
I have been known to faint at the sight of blood.
The soldiers were given orders to shoot on sight (= as soon as they saw sb) .
She caught sight of a car in the distance.
HOW FAR YOU CAN SEE
3.
[ U ] the area or distance within which sb can see or sth can be seen :
There was no one in sight .
At last we came in sight of a few houses.
A bicycle came into sight on the main road.
The end is in sight (= will happen soon) .
Leave any valuables in your car out of sight .
Keep out of sight (= stay where you cannot be seen) .
She never lets her daughter out of her sight (= always keeps her where she can see her) .
Get out of my sight! (= Go away!)
The boat disappeared from sight .
The house was hidden from sight behind some trees.
He had placed himself directly in my line of sight .
WHAT YOU CAN SEE
4.
[ C ] a thing that you see or can see :
It's a spectacular sight as the flamingos lift into the air.
The museum attempts to recreate the sights and sounds of wartime Britain.
He was a sorry sight , soaked to the skin and shivering.
The bird is now a rare sight in this country.
➡ note at view
INTERESTING PLACES
5.
sights [ pl. ] the interesting places, especially in a town or city, that are often visited by tourists :
We're going to Paris for the weekend to see the sights .
RIDICULOUS / UNTIDY PERSON
6.
a sight [ sing. ] ( informal , especially BrE ) a person or thing that looks ridiculous, untidy, unpleasant, etc. :
She looks a sight in that hat!
ON GUN / TELESCOPE
7.
[ C , usually pl. ] a device that you look through to aim a gun, etc. or to look at sth through a telescope , etc. :
He had the deer in his sights now.
( figurative )
Even as a young actress, she always had Hollywood firmly in her sights (= as her final goal) .
•
IDIOMS
- at first sight
- hate, be sick of, etc. the sight of sb/sth
- in the sight of sb / in sb's sight
- lose sight of sb/sth
- out of sight, out of mind
- raise / lower your sights
- set your sights on sth / on doing sth
- a (damn, etc.) sight better, etc. | a (damn, etc.) sight too good, etc.
- a sight for sore eyes
- sight unseen
—more at heave verb , know verb , nowhere , pretty adjective
■ verb
[ vn ] ( formal ) to suddenly see sth, especially sth you have been looking for :
After twelve days at sea, they sighted land.
••
SYNONYMS
sight
view ♦ vision
These are all words for the area or distance that you can see from a particular position.
sight
the area or distance that you can see from a particular position:
He looked up the street, but there was no one in sight.
•
Leave any valuables in your car out of sight.
view
( rather formal ) the area or distance that you can see from a particular position:
The lake soon came into view.
vision
the area that you can see from a particular position:
The couple moved outside her field of vision (= total area you can see from a particular position) .
sight, view or vision?
View is more literary than sight or vision . It is the only word for talking about how well you can see: I didn't have a good sight / vision of the stage. Vision must always be used with a possessive pronoun:
my / his/her etc. (field of) vision
. It is not used with the prepositions in, into and out of that are very frequent with sight and view : There was nobody in vision. • A tall figure came into vision.
PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS :
in / out of sight / view
in / within sight / view of sth
in full / plain sight / view
to come into / disappear from sight / view / sb's vision
to vanish from sight / view
to come in sight / view of sb/sth
to block sb's view / vision
sb's line of sight / vision
sb's field of view / vision
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English (ge)sihth something seen , of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch zicht and German Gesicht sight, face, appearance.