Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To exhale audibly in a long deep breath, as in weariness or relief.
  • intransitive verb To emit a similar sound.
  • intransitive verb To feel longing or grief; yearn.
  • intransitive verb To express with or as if with an audible exhalation.
  • intransitive verb Archaic To lament.
  • noun The act or sound of sighing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To heave or draw a sigh (see sigh, n.); make an audible inspiration and expiration indicative of some emotion; make an expressive respiratory sound: as, to sigh with grief or disappointment, or (less commonly) from satisfaction or the sense of relief.
  • Hence To experience an oppressive mental sensation; yearn or long, as from a special access of emotion or desire: often with for: as, to sigh for the good old times.
  • To make a sound resembling or suggestive of a sigh; sound with gentle or subdued mournfulness: said of things, especially the wind and its effects.
  • To emit, use, or act upon or in regard to with sighs or in sighing; utter, express, lament, etc., with sighing utterance or feeling: used poetically with much latitude: as, to sigh out one's love, pleasure, or grief.
  • See sie.
  • A Middle English preterit of see.
  • noun A sudden involuntary deep-drawn inspiration of breath, followed by its more or less audible expiration, usually expressive of some emotion or sensation: as, a sigh of grief, chagrin, relief, pleasure, or fatigue.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To inhale a larger quantity of air than usual, and immediately expel it; to make a deep single audible respiration, especially as the result or involuntary expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, or the like.
  • intransitive verb Hence, to lament; to grieve.
  • intransitive verb To make a sound like sighing.
  • transitive verb To exhale (the breath) in sighs.
  • transitive verb To utter sighs over; to lament or mourn over.
  • transitive verb To express by sighs; to utter in or with sighs.
  • noun A deep and prolonged audible inspiration or respiration of air, as when fatigued or grieved; the act of sighing.
  • noun Figuratively, a manifestation of grief; a lan�ent.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A deep and prolonged audible inspiration or respiration of air, as when fatigued, frustrated, grieved, or relieved; the act of sighing.
  • noun Figuratively, a manifestation of grief; a lament.
  • noun Cockney rhyming slang A person who is bored.
  • verb intransitive To inhale a larger quantity of air than usual, and immediately expel it; to make a deep single audible respiration, especially as the result or involuntary expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, frustration, or the like.
  • verb intransitive To lament; to grieve.
  • verb intransitive To utter sighs over; to lament or mourn over.
  • verb intransitive To experience an emotion associated with sighing.
  • verb intransitive To make a sound like sighing.
  • verb transitive To exhale (the breath) in sighs.
  • verb transitive To express by sighs; to utter in or with sighs.
  • verb transitive, archaic To utter sighs over; to lament or mourn over.
  • interjection An expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, frustration, or the like, often used in casual written contexts.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
  • verb utter with a sigh
  • noun a sound like a person sighing
  • noun an utterance made by exhaling audibly

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English sighen, probably back-formation from sighte, past tense of siken, to sigh, from Old English sīcan.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English sihen, from Old English sīcan

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Examples

Comments

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  • Isn't this a nice little word? Ahhhhhhh!!

    November 5, 2007

  • Indeed, a beautiful and very evocative word that finally prompted me to create this list of similarly powerful, small words. Additions are welcome.

    November 5, 2007

  • Skipvia,

    which list?

    April 3, 2008

  • Try this.

    April 3, 2008

  • Wordie is quiet today. *sigh*

    December 19, 2008

  • And for me most of you guys and she-guys have unfavorable timezones...

    December 19, 2008

  • *runs into room with clashing cymbals*

    Does that help?

    December 19, 2008

  • Hey! It's a party!!

    *blaring trumpets*

    December 19, 2008

  • What is wrong with the third pronunciation from 'Onomatopoeia'? It sounds like a drunk and dying pig.

    December 1, 2009

  • *Mulls - Do I want to know what expertise Undies has with drunk and dying pigs?*

    *runs*

    December 1, 2009

  • *becupcakes marsupial as he scampers away*

    Mind your own business! It wasn't my fault my pig found my store of alcohol! He was dying anyway I tell you!

    December 1, 2009

  • That's what they all say.

    December 2, 2009

  • becupcakes reesetee. (who(m?) I think still hasn't gotten over the last becupcaking from the trebuchet)

    *sigh*

    Farewell cupcakes, farewell pig.

    December 2, 2009

  • I haven't. Why, I've barely had time to unbecupcake myself.

    December 2, 2009

  • Sorry. Next time I'll wait until you're ready.

    December 2, 2009