sight

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noun

1 ability to see ⇨ See also ↑eyesight

VERB + SIGHT

▪ have

▪

She has very little sight in her left eye.

▪ lose

▪

He's lost the sight of one eye.

▪ regain

▪ save

▪

The surgeons battled to save her sight.

▪ restore

SIGHT + VERB

▪ deteriorate, fail, go (all esp. BrE)

▪

I think my sight is beginning to go.

▪ return

▪

His sight returned by degrees.

SIGHT + NOUN

▪ test (BrE)

▪ defects (BrE), problems

▪ loss (BrE)

▪

This disease is the main cause of sight loss among those aged 50 and over.

PHRASES

▪ the/your sense of sight

2 act/moment of seeing sth

VERB + SIGHT

▪ catch, get, have

▪

She suddenly caught sight of the look on her mother's face.

▪

We will soon get our first sight of the Statue of Liberty.

▪ keep

▪

She kept sight of him in her mirror.

▪ lose

SIGHT + NOUN

▪ gag

▪

The movie is filled with dozens of funny sight gags.

PREPOSITION

▪ at the sight (of)

▪

Her knees went weak at the sight of him.

▪ on sight

▪

Soldiers have been ordered to shoot looters on sight (= as soon as they see them).

PHRASES

▪ at first sight

▪

He looked at first sight like a tourist.

▪

It was love at first sight.

▪ cannot bear the sight of sth, cannot stand the sight of sth (= hate seeing sb/sth)

▪

I can't stand the sight of blood.

▪ a clear sight of sth (esp. BrE)

▪

He didn't shoot until he had a clear sight of the goal.

▪ know sb by sight (= to recognize sb without knowing them well)

▪ the mere sight of sb/sth, the very sight of sb/sth

▪

The mere sight of her sitting there made his heart beat faster.

▪ sick of the sight of sb/sth (esp. BrE)

▪

We've shared an office for too long and we're sick of the sight of each other.

▪ sight unseen

▪

I bought it, sight unseen (= without seeing it).

3 position where sth can be seen

VERB + SIGHT

▪ come into

▪

Then the towers of the castle came into sight.

▪ disappear from, vanish from

▪

She watched until the car disappeared from sight.

▪ block, block out

▪ hide (sth) from, remove sth from

▪

I hid the papers from sight.

PREPOSITION

▪ in sight

▪

Keep their car in sight for as long as you can.

▪

The end is in sight (= will happen soon). (figurative)

▪ out of sight

▪

He kept out of sight behind a pillar.

▪

You'd better stay out of sight until they go.

▪ within sight of

▪

Her staff of 30 work in an industrial loft within sight of Logan Airport.

PHRASES

▪ in full sight of sb

▪

He tried to break into a car in full sight of a policeman.

▪ in plain sight

▪

They waited until the enemy was in plain sight.

▪ be nowhere in sight

▪

Her father was nowhere in sight.

▪ come in sight of sb/sth

▪

At last we came in sight of a few houses.

▪ no end in sight

▪

The violence continues with no end in sight.

▪ not leave sb's sight

▪

He won't let the children leave his sight.

▪ sb's line of sight

▪

She was now standing just out of his line of sight.

▪ not let sb/sth out of your sight

▪

Whatever you do, don't let them out of your sight!

4 sth that you see

ADJECTIVE

▪ common, familiar, regular (esp. BrE)

▪

Tom was a pretty familiar sight around the casino.

▪ bizarre, odd, rare, strange, unexpected, unfamiliar, unlikely (esp. BrE), unusual

▪ amazing, awe-inspiring, awesome, beautiful, breathtaking, extraordinary, fine, impressive, inspiring, magnificent, spectacular, splendid (esp. BrE), unforgettable, wonderful

▪ depressing, pathetic, pitiful, sad, sorry, unedifying (BrE)

▪

He really did look a sorry sight, with his clothes covered in mud.

▪ disturbing

▪ ghastly, gruesome, horrible, horrific, horrifying, terrible, terrifying

▪ welcome

▪

Dan's face was a welcome sight.

VERB + SIGHT

▪ behold, see, witness

▪

This is a sight not often seen on concert stages in this country.

▪

I witnessed the awful sight of children drinking dirty water from puddles.

▪ look (BrE, informal)

▪

You look a sight in that hat!

▪ enjoy

▪

Who does not enjoy the sight and sounds of birds in the country?

SIGHT + VERB

▪ greet

▪

An appalling sight greeted her.

PHRASES

▪ be quite a sight

▪

The military parade was quite a sight.

▪ be spared the sight of sth

▪

Thankfully, we were spared the sight of his naked body.

▪ not a pretty sight

▪

I'm not a pretty sight when I get out of bed in the morning.

▪ sights and sounds

▪

The sights and sounds of the city distracted her from her work.

5 sights places of interest

ADJECTIVE

▪ famous, historic

VERB + SIGHTS

▪ see, take in, visit

▪

Let's get out of the hotel and see the sights.

6 on gun/telescope

ADJECTIVE

▪ gun (usually gunsight)

▪ adjustable, fixed

▪ optical, telescopic

▪ night, thermal, thermal-imaging

▪ laser

▪ front, rear

VERB + SIGHT

▪ adjust, align

▪

to align the sights on the target

PREPOSITION

▪ in your sight

▪

He fixed the deer in his sights and pulled the trigger.

7 sights your aim, attention, etc.

VERB + SIGHTS

▪ have sb/sth in, have sb/sth within

▪

Rossi has the defending champion in her sights in tomorrow's race.

▪ fix, train, turn

▪

She turned her sights on Florida's adoption laws.

▪ lower, raise

▪

After failing to get into college, he lowered his sights and got a job in a bar.

PHRASES

▪ have your sights set on sth, set your sights on sth

▪

She has her sights set on becoming a writer.

▪ set your sights high, set your sights low

▪

He says he wants to win the trophy, but I think he's setting his sights too high.

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verb

Sight is used with these nouns as the object: ↑land