I. ˈsē verb
( saw ˈsȯ ; or nonstandard seed ˈsēd ; or seen ˈsēn ; seen or nonstandard seed or saw ; seeing ; sees ˈsēz)
Etymology: Middle English seen, sen, from Old English sēon; akin to Old High German sehan to see, Old Norse sjā, Gothic saihwan, Old English secgan to say — more at say
transitive verb
1.
a. : to perceive by the eye : apprehend through sight
opens his eyes to see the sunlight coming in through the window
b. : to perceive as if by sight
it was wonderful what that boy saw who was blind — Stuart Cloete
c. : to detect the presence of
the supersonic streamlining of this vehicle makes it difficult to see by radar — L.N.Ridenour
2.
a. : to have experience of : undergo
saw sea duty on a minesweeper — Current Biography
if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death — Jn 8:51 (Revised Standard Version)
opening for keen, practical, final year student to see dairy cattle and small-animal practice — Veterinary Record
seen better days
see life
b. : to learn or find by observation or experience : come to know : discover
a point of view which I have since seen cause to modify — John Buchan
c. : to find out by investigation : ascertain
see if the hat fits
see if the car needs oil
see who's at the door
d. : to give rise to : be marked by
the late glacial times saw the complete triumph of our ancestral stock — Jacquetta & Christopher Hawkes
e. : to serve as the setting for : be the scene of : witness
that house saw more worry and unhappiness — Virginia D. Dawson & Betty D. Wilson
3.
a. : to form a mental picture of : visualize
can still see her as she was twenty years ago
saw her in his dreams
b. : to perceive the meaning or importance of : comprehend , understand
because the frontier gives shape and life to our national myth, we have preferred to see its story in romantic outline — Dayton Kohler
c. : to be aware of : recognize
planning to fire you tomorrow, because you just can't see a good news story — Sinclair Lewis
sees the folly of further resistance — T.B.Costain
sees only his faults
d. : to form a conception of : imagine as a possibility : suppose
can you see me knowing how to furnish a house — Edith Sitwell
was never whipped … she was so dignified and superior you just couldn't see her across my mother's lap — Myron Brinig
e. : to have presented for observation or consideration : be made aware of
we saw, in the previous lecture, how the problem arose
f. : to look at from a particular point of view
see oursels as others see us — Robert Burns
g. : to look ahead to : foresee
can see the day when a college will not try to cover the whole field of liberal arts — Time
4.
a. : to direct one's attention to : put under observation : examine , scrutinize
want to see how he handles the problem
b.
(1) : to inspect or read understandingly (something written or printed)
have you seen the story of yesterday's game
let me see your pass, soldier
seen and allowed
(2) : to read of
I saw your appointment in the newspapers
c. : to refer to
for further information, see the documents printed in the appendix
see the explanatory notes at the beginning of the book
d. : to attend or visit as an observer or spectator
see a parade
see a play
see the sights of the city
5.
a. : to take care of : provide for
would like him to have enough to see him easily to the end of his days — T.B.Costain
b. : to take care or heed : make sure
see thou say nothing to any man — Mk 1:44 (Authorized Version)
see that your wet umbrella is not placed between your seat and the next — Agnes M. Miall
will see that he is brought up properly
6.
a. : to regard as : consider , judge
the electorate did not see fit to ratify the new frame of government — B.W.Bond
did not see it right to ask for special favors
b. : to prefer to have : allow to happen : welcome
would probably see himself shot before he told a deliberate falsehood — J.G.Cozzens
I'll see you dead before I accept your terms
c. : to regard with approval or liking : find acceptable or attractive
still can't see the portholes but this is our only complaint in an otherwise clean design — Walt Woron
hope you'll be able to make her see it — W.S.Maugham
can't understand what he sees in her
7.
a.
(1) : to make a call upon : visit
stopped off at the office to see his former employer
(2) : to call upon or meet with in order to obtain help or advice
see a doctor
see a lawyer
b.
(1) : to be in the company of regularly or frequently especially in courtship or dating
had been seeing each other for a year before they became engaged
(2) : to grant an interview to or accept the visit of : meet with : receive
the president of the bank will see you in a few minutes
sees only a few old friends these days
(3) : to meet with for the purpose of influencing especially by bribery or pressure
charged that the witness had been seen by the defense
8.
a. : accompany , escort
young men would wait to see the young ladies home — Agnes S. Turnbull
b. : to wait upon : be present with
saw her onto the plane
saw him off at the station
c. : to give continued attention, assistance, or guidance to — used with through
saw a new edition of his book through the press
the sympathy of his friends saw him through this period of grief
9. : to meet (a bet) in poker or to equal the bet of (a player) : call
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to give or pay attention
see , the train is coming
b. : to look about
stood up and fired his pistol in the air, and the naked Indians came out on the shore to see — Meridel Le Sueur
2.
a. : to have the power of sight : have vision
whereas I was blind, now I see — Jn 9:25 (Authorized Version)
he sees poorly with his left eye
b. : to apprehend objects by sight
it was so foggy that he could hardly see
c. : to perceive objects as if by sight
the butterfly lightness that was teaching his fingers to see — Marcia Davenport
3.
a. : to grasp something mentally : have insight : understand
this fundamental bias of all thinking … is what enables us to see , gives thought its real use — H.J.Muller
b. : to take note
these aren't ordinary trout, you see — Corey Ford
c. : consider , think
when can I finish this — let me see
4.
a. : to make investigation or inquiry
you'll see about the rates, won't you — Agnes S. Turnbull
b. : to arrive at a conclusion through observation and experience
I can't give you an answer yet, but we shall see
Synonyms:
behold , descry , espy , view , survey , observe , notice , remark , note , perceive , discern : see is broad and general and may stand for any of the other words here
I see you
I see it
behold may be used in situations involving awe, grandeur, or dignity, with suggestions of observant, complete vision
it was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils — Mary W. Shelley
Grecian spectators … when they beheld the innumerable Persian host crossing the Hellespont — George Grote
descry may suggest watchful, careful scanning and observation of the distant or the difficult to view
on a superb day he can descry Greenwich, 28 miles away — New Yorker
espy is similar in suggestion to descry but is more likely to be used to refer to the obscure or covert
flowers we espy beside the torrent growing, flowers that peep forth from many a cleft and chink — William Wordsworth
on these analogies it is not altogether fantastic to espy … the ghost of a Minoan universal church — A.J.Toynbee
view may designate an overall or comprehensive looking at a subject, often from a specific or particular position or in a specific or peculiar way
the little chapel … the white dove … green tufted islands … the youth had long been viewing these pleasant things — John Keats
the effort is an interesting one if you view it in terms of the techniques of political symbolism — Max Lerner
survey , in this sense, may be used in reference to a broad view from a high point or may designate a comprehensive examination of a subject with careful consideration of its salient points
am monarch of all I survey — William Cowper
had plenty of leisure now, day in, day out, to survey her life as a tract of country traversed — Victoria Sackville-West
observe may suggest careful, heedful attention directed and sustained
a genuine scientific process — the play of intellect and imagination around a few fragments of observed fact — Havelock Ellis
the Navy is observing the new programs in the Army and Air Force with interest — Atlantic
notice may suggest careful observation and intention to record or remember
if we tried to notice all the ways in which the idea of beauty has been corrupted — Irving Babbitt
remark and note mean to see or sense and to record or make a mental note
I remarked their English accents — James Joyce
believed that the artist should not number the streaks of the tulip but should remark general properties and large appearances — F.W.Hilles
in these brilliant and gifted inhabitants … one may note a number of characteristics — Geoffrey Bruun
writers are perhaps the best of travelers, since their sharpened senses seize and note impressions — F.B.Millett
perceive may combine the notions of seeing or sensing and of recognizing and realizing
his lightning dashes from image to image, so quick that we are unable at first to perceive the points of contact — C.D.Lewis
what a great novelist at his best perceives in human nature — Bernard De Voto
discern may apply to seeing or perceiving identities or differences which are not immediately obvious
never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary — W.S.Maugham
Synonyms:
see , look , and watch can all mean to perceive something by means of the eyes. see stresses the reception of the visual impression
see clearly with a telescope
have the power of seeing
look stresses the directing of the eyes to something in order to see
look and see the man leave
turn suddenly to look at the man
watch implies a persistent observing or the following of something with the eyes in order to observe fully
watch what a child is up to
a cat watching a mouse
•
- see about
- see after
- see daylight
- see for
- see one's way
- see red
- see the elephant
- see through
- see to
- see to it
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English se, see, from Old French se, sed, sie seat, throne, see, from Latin sedes seat; akin to Latin sedēre to sit — more at sit
1.
a. archaic : cathedra
b. : a church containing a cathedra : cathedral
c. : a seat or center of the power or authority of a bishop : a diocesan center
2.
a. : the rank, office, power, or authority of a bishop
the see of Rome
b. : the jurisdiction (as a diocese or province) of a bishop