sight

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

• noun The ability to see.
• noun Field of vision.
• noun The act or fact of seeing.
• noun Something seen.
• noun Something worth seeing; a spectacle.
• noun Informal Something unsightly or ridiculous.
• noun The foreseeable future; prospect.
• noun Mental perception or consideration.
• noun A device used to assist aim by guiding the eye, as on a firearm or surveying instrument.
• noun An aim or observation taken with such a device.
• intransitive verb To perceive with the eyes; get sight of.
• intransitive verb To observe through a sight or an optical instrument.
• intransitive verb To adjust the sights of (a rifle, for example).
• intransitive verb To take aim with (a firearm).
• intransitive verb To direct one's gaze; look carefully.
• intransitive verb To take aim.
• idiom (a sight) A lot; much.
• idiom (on sight) Immediately upon being seen.
• idiom (out of sight) Remarkable; incredible.
• idiom (sight for sore eyes) One whom it is a relief or joy to see.
• idiom (sight unseen) Without seeing the object in question.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To come in sight or get sight of; bring into view, especially into one's own view, as by approach or by search; make visible to one's self: as, to sight land; to sight game.
• To take a sight of; make an observation of, especially with an instrument: as, to sight a star.
• In com., to present to sight; bring under notice: as, to sight a bill (that is, to present it to the drawee for acceptance).
• To direct upon the objeet aimed at by means of a sight or sights, as a firearm.
• To provide with sights, or adjust the sights of, as a gun or an instrument.
• noun In cards, a show of the opponent's hand. In poker, when a player has not enough money to call a bet, he may demand a sight for what he has, but if he has borrowed to raise he must borrow to call.
• noun The power of seeing; the faculty of vision; ability to perceive objects by means of the eyes: commonly reckoned the first of the five senses.
• noun A seeing or looking; a vision or view; visual perception or inspection: with or without an article: as, to get a sight, or catch or lose sight, of an object; at first sight; a cheerful sight; to get out of one's sight.
• noun Scope of vision; limit of visual perception; seeing-distance; range of the eyes; open view: as, to put something out of sight.
• noun Gaze; look; view; visual attention or regard: as, to fix one's sight upon a distant landmark.
• noun Hence Mental regard or consideration; estimation; judgment; way of looking upon or thinking about a subject; point of view.
• noun The state of being seen; visual presence; a coming into view or within the range of vision: as, to know a person by or at sight; to honor a draft on sight.
• noun An insight; an opportunity for seeing or studying, as something to be learned.
• noun Hence An opportunity for doing something; an opening; a chance; a “show”: as, he has no sight against his opponent.
• noun Look; aspect; manner of appearing.
• noun Something seen or to be seen; a spectacle; a show; used absolutely, a striking spectacle; a gazing-stock; something adapted to attract the eyes or fix attention: as, the sights of a town; he was a sight to behold.
• noun Hence A number or quantity wonderful to see or contemplate; a surprising multitude or multiplicity presented to view or attention; a great many, or a great deal: as, what a sight of people! it must have taken a sight of work (to accomplish something).
• noun An aid to seeing.
• noun An aperture through which to look; in old armor, a perforation for the eye through the helmet; now. especially, a small piece (generally one of two pieces in line) with an aperture, either vacant (plain) or containing a lens (telescopic), on a surveying or other instrument, for aid in bringing an object observed into exact line with the point of observation: as, the sights of a quadrant or a compass.
• noun A device for directing the aim of a firearm, the most common sort being a metal pin set on top of the barrel near the muzzle. There are often two, one near the muzzle and the other at. the breech, the latter having a notch or hole through which the former is seen when the gun is pointed: in this case they are called fore-sight or front sight, and hind-sight or breech-sight Firearms intended for long range are fitted with sights marked for different elevations, or adjustable, by the use of which the aim can be taken for distances of several hundred yards. See bead-sight, peep-sight, and cuts under revolver and gunnery
• noun An aim or an observation taken by looking along the course of a gun or an instrument; in gunnery, specifically, the leveling or aiming of a gun by the aid of its sights; nautical, an instrumental observation of the sun or other heavenly body for determining the position of a vessel; in surveying, the fixing, by sight with an instrument, of the relative position of an object for the purpose of alinement.
• noun Hence A straight stretch of road, as one along which a sight may be taken in surveying: a line uninterrupted by a bend or an elevation: as, go on three sights, and stop at the first house. Also called look.
• noun In picture-framing, that part of a picture of any kind which is exposed to view within the edge of a frame or mat; the whole of the space within the frame.
• noun In com., on presentation.
• noun Within view or seeing distance; in a position permitting sight or observation: with of: as, to be in sight of land.
• noun Within the range of observation or knowledge; known from inspection, search, or inquiry; that can be calculated upon as existing or available: as, the ore in sight in a mine; the amount of grain in sight for market.