bight


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bight

part of a rope; bend in the shore; gulf
Not to be confused with:
bite – cut or wound with the teeth: Does your dog bite?
byte – adjacent bits processed by a computer
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

bight

 (bīt)
n.
1.
a. A loop in a rope.
b. The middle or slack part of an extended rope.
2.
a. A bend or curve, especially in a shoreline.
b. A wide bay formed by such a bend or curve.

[Middle English, bend, angle, from Old English byht; see bheug- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bight

(baɪt)
n
1. (Physical Geography) a wide indentation of a shoreline, or the body of water bounded by such a curve
2. (Knots) the slack middle part of an extended rope
3. (Knots) a curve or loop in a rope
vb
(Knots) (tr) to fasten or bind with a bight
[Old English byht; see bow2]

Bight

n
(Placename) the Bight informal Austral the major indentation of the S coast of Australia, from Cape Pasley in W Australia to the Eyre Peninsula in S Australia. In full: the Great Australian Bight
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bight

(baɪt)
n.
1. a loop or slack part in a rope.
2. a bend or curve in the shore of a sea or river.
3. a body of water bounded by such a bend.
4. a bay or gulf.
v.t.
5. to fasten with a bight of rope.
[before 1000; Middle English byght, Old English byht bend, bay; akin to Middle Low German bucht (akin to bow 1)]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

bight

A bend in a coast forming an open bay or an open bay formed by such a bend.
Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

bight


Past participle: bighted
Gerund: bighting

Imperative
bight
bight
Present
I bight
you bight
he/she/it bights
we bight
you bight
they bight
Preterite
I bighted
you bighted
he/she/it bighted
we bighted
you bighted
they bighted
Present Continuous
I am bighting
you are bighting
he/she/it is bighting
we are bighting
you are bighting
they are bighting
Present Perfect
I have bighted
you have bighted
he/she/it has bighted
we have bighted
you have bighted
they have bighted
Past Continuous
I was bighting
you were bighting
he/she/it was bighting
we were bighting
you were bighting
they were bighting
Past Perfect
I had bighted
you had bighted
he/she/it had bighted
we had bighted
you had bighted
they had bighted
Future
I will bight
you will bight
he/she/it will bight
we will bight
you will bight
they will bight
Future Perfect
I will have bighted
you will have bighted
he/she/it will have bighted
we will have bighted
you will have bighted
they will have bighted
Future Continuous
I will be bighting
you will be bighting
he/she/it will be bighting
we will be bighting
you will be bighting
they will be bighting
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been bighting
you have been bighting
he/she/it has been bighting
we have been bighting
you have been bighting
they have been bighting
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been bighting
you will have been bighting
he/she/it will have been bighting
we will have been bighting
you will have been bighting
they will have been bighting
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been bighting
you had been bighting
he/she/it had been bighting
we had been bighting
you had been bighting
they had been bighting
Conditional
I would bight
you would bight
he/she/it would bight
we would bight
you would bight
they would bight
Past Conditional
I would have bighted
you would have bighted
he/she/it would have bighted
we would have bighted
you would have bighted
they would have bighted
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.bight - a loop in a ropebight - a loop in a rope      
loop - anything with a round or oval shape (formed by a curve that is closed and does not intersect itself)
2.bight - a bend or curve (especially in a coastline)
bend, turn, crook, twist - a circular segment of a curve; "a bend in the road"; "a crook in the path"
3.bight - a broad bay formed by an indentation in the shorelinebight - a broad bay formed by an indentation in the shoreline; "the Bight of Benin"; "the Great Australian Bight"
bay, embayment - an indentation of a shoreline larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf
4.bight - the middle part of a slack rope (as distinguished from its ends)bight - the middle part of a slack rope (as distinguished from its ends)
rope - a strong line
midpoint, centre, center - a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure
Verb1.bight - fasten with a bight
fasten, fix, secure - cause to be firmly attached; "fasten the lock onto the door"; "she fixed her gaze on the man"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

bight

noun
A body of water partly enclosed by land but having a wide outlet to the sea:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

bight

[baɪt] N
1. (Geog) → ensenada f, cala f; (= bend) → recodo m
2. [of rope] → gaza f, laza f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

bight

n (Geog) → Bucht f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
References in classic literature ?
He towed his ark around the Solano Wharf and into the big bight at Turner's Shipyard.
Below the town of Benicia, where the Solano wharf projects, the Straits widen out into what bay-farers call the "Bight of Turner's Shipyard." I was in the shore-tide that swept under the Solano wharf and on into the bight.
It hangs from the ship's side at the end of a heavy, projecting timber called the cat-head, in the bight of a short, thick chain whose end link is suddenly released by a blow from a top-maul or the pull of a lever when the order is given.
The king stooped down immediately and picked up the letter, crumpling it in his hand, as he did so; and at the same moment the torches arrived, inundating the blackness of the scene with a flood of light as bight as day.
My father and mother were Danes, and how they ever came to that bleak bight of land on the west coast I do not know.
"Jump ashore and take a turn around a tree and pass the bight aboard!"
He trotted across the level deck to Skipper, who, standing erect on wide-spread legs, the bight of the mainsheet still in his hand, was exclaiming:
There’s them that says you’re an Indian, and a scalper, but you’ve served me a good turn, and you may set me down for a friend; thof it would have been more ship shape like to lower the bight of a rope or running bowline below me, than to seize an old seaman by his head-lanyard; but I suppose you are used to taking men by the hair, and seeing you did me good instead of harm thereby, why, it’s the same thing, d'ye see?”
Then, a hooked iron rod, thrust through the bars, caught and drew the bight of his trailing rope into the hands of the men outside.
Yet amongst all the adventurers shipwrecked in all the wild parts of the world there is not one, it seems to me, that ever had to suffer a fate so simply tragic as the man I am speaking of, the most innocent of adventurers cast out by the sea in the bight of this bay, almost within sight from this very window.
"Having taken the pirate captain prisoner, sailed slap over the schooner, whose decks were piled high with dead and whose lee scuppers ran blood, for the order had been `Cutlasses, and die hard!' `Bosun's mate, take a bight of the flying-jib sheet, and start this villain if he doesn't confess his sins double quick, ' said the British captain.
The Indians landed them and their supplies in a lonely bight of land a hundred miles or so beyond Latuya Bay, and returned to Skaguay; but the three other men remained, for they were members of the organized party.