(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
Someone’s ~ is their ability to see.
My ~ is failing, and I can’t see to read any more...
I use the sense of sound much more than the sense of ~.
= vision
N-UNCOUNT: oft poss N
2.
The ~ of something is the act of seeing it or an occasion on which you see it.
I faint at the ~ of blood...
The ~ of him entering a room could flood her with desire.
N-SING: the N of n
3.
A ~ is something that you see.
We encountered the pathetic ~ of a family packing up its home...
N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft adj N
4.
If you ~ someone or something, you suddenly see them, often briefly.
The security forces ~ed a group of young men that had crossed the border...
VERB: V n
5.
The ~s of a weapon such as a rifle are the part which helps you aim it more accurately.
N-COUNT: usu pl
6.
The ~s are the places that are interesting to see and that are often visited by tourists.
I am going to show you the ~s of our wonderful city...
N-PLURAL: usu the N, oft N of n
7.
You can use a ~ to mean a lot. For example, if you say that something is a ~ worse than it was before, you are emphasizing that it is much worse than it was. (INFORMAL)
She’s been no more difficult than most daughters and a ~ better than some I could mention...
ADV: ADV adj/adv emphasis
8.
see also ~ed , ~ing
9.
If you catch ~ of someone, you suddenly see them, often briefly.
Then he caught ~ of her small black velvet hat in the crowd...
= see
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
10.
If you say that something seems to have certain characteristics at first ~, you mean that it appears to have the features you describe when you first see it but later it is found to be different.
It promised to be a more difficult undertaking than might appear at first ~...
PHRASE: PHR with cl
11.
If something is in ~ or within ~, you can see it. If it is out of ~, you cannot see it.
The Atlantic coast is within ~ of the hotel...
My companion suggested that we park out of ~ of passing traffic to avoid attracting attention.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
12.
If a result or a decision is in ~ or within ~, it is likely to happen within a short time.
An agreement on many aspects of trade policy was in ~...
PHRASE: v-link PHR
13.
If you lose ~ of an important aspect of something, you no longer pay attention to it because you are worrying about less important things.
In some cases, US industry has lost ~ of customer needs in designing products...
= forget
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
14.
If someone is ordered to do something on ~, they have to do it without delay, as soon as a person or thing is seen.
Troops shot anyone suspicious on ~...
PHRASE
15.
If you set your ~s on something, you decide that you want it and try hard to get it.
They have set their ~s on the world record...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n