si|es|ta /sie stə/ (siestas ) N‑COUNT A siesta is a short sleep or rest which you have in the early afternoon, especially in hot countries. □ They have a siesta during the hottest part of the day.
sieve /s I v/ (sieves , sieving , sieved )
1 N‑COUNT A sieve is a tool used for separating solids from liquids or larger pieces of something from smaller pieces. It consists of a metal or plastic ring with a wire or plastic net underneath, which the liquid or smaller pieces pass through. □ Press the raspberries through a fine sieve to form a puree.
2 VERB When you sieve a substance, you put it through a sieve. □ [V n] Cream the margarine in a small bowl, then sieve the icing sugar into it.
sift /s I ft/ (sifts , sifting , sifted )
1 VERB If you sift a powder such as flour or sand, you put it through a sieve in order to remove large pieces or lumps. □ [V n] Sift the flour and baking powder into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
2 VERB If you sift through something such as evidence, you examine it thoroughly. □ [V + through ] Police officers have continued to sift through the wreckage following yesterday's bomb attack. □ [V n] Brook has sifted the evidence and summarises it clearly.
sigh ◆◇◇ /sa I / (sighs , sighing , sighed )
1 VERB When you sigh , you let out a deep breath, as a way of expressing feelings such as disappointment, tiredness, or pleasure. □ [V prep/adv] Michael sighed wearily. □ [V ] Dad sighed and stood up. ● N‑COUNT Sigh is also a noun. □ She kicked off her shoes with a sigh.
2 VERB If you sigh something, you say it with a sigh. □ [V with quote] 'Oh, sorry. I forgot.'—'Everyone forgets,' the girl sighed.
3 PHRASE If people breathe or heave a sigh of relief , they feel happy that something unpleasant has not happened or is no longer happening. □ There was a big sigh of relief once the economic reform plan was agreed. COLLOCATIONS sigh NOUN 1
adjective + sigh : audible, deep, long, weary; collective
verb + sigh : breathe, emit, heave; hear VERB 2
sigh + adverb : audibly, deeply, heavily, loudly; inwardly, wearily, wistfully
sight ◆◆◇ /sa I t/ (sights , sighting , sighted )
1 N‑UNCOUNT [oft poss N ] Someone's sight is their ability to see. □ My sight is failing, and I can't see to read any more. □ I use the sense of sound much more than the sense of sight.
2 N‑SING The sight of something is the act of seeing it or an occasion on which you see it. □ [+ of ] I faint at the sight of blood. □ [+ of ] The sight of him entering a room could flood her with desire.
3 N‑COUNT [oft adj N ] A sight is something that you see. □ [+ of ] We encountered the pathetic sight of a family packing up its home.
4 VERB If you sight someone or something, you suddenly see them, often briefly. □ [V n] The security forces sighted a group of young men that had crossed the border.
5 N‑COUNT [usu pl] The sights of a weapon such as a rifle are the part which helps you aim it more accurately.
6 N‑PLURAL The sights are the places that are interesting to see and that are often visited by tourists. □ [+ of ] I am going to show you the sights of our wonderful city.
7 ADV [ADV adj/adv] You can use a sight to mean a lot. For example, if you say that something is a sight worse than it was before, you are emphasizing that it is much worse than it was. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □ She's been no more difficult than most daughters and a sight better than some I could mention.
8 → see also sighted , sighting
9 PHRASE If you catch sight of someone, you suddenly see them, often briefly. □ Then he caught sight of her small black velvet hat in the crowd.
10 PHRASE If you say that something seems to have certain characteristics at first sight , you mean that it appears to have the features you describe when you first see it but later it is found to be different. □ It promised to be a more difficult undertaking than might appear at first sight.
11 PHRASE If something is in sight or within sight , you can see it. If it is out of sight , you cannot see it. □ [+ of ] The Atlantic coast is within sight of the hotel. □ [+ of ] We parked out of sight of passing traffic to avoid attracting attention.
12 PHRASE If a result or a decision is in sight or within sight , it is likely to happen within a short time. □ An agreement on many aspects of trade policy was in sight.
13 PHRASE If you lose sight of an important aspect of something, you no longer pay attention to it because you are worrying about less important things. □ In some cases, U.S. industry has lost sight of customer needs in designing products.
14 PHRASE If someone is ordered to do something on sight , they have to do it without delay, as soon as a person or thing is seen. □ Troops shot anyone suspicious on sight.
15 PHRASE If you set your sights on something, you decide that you want it and try hard to get it. □ They have set their sights on the world record. COLLOCATIONS sight NOUN 3
adjective + sight : familiar; depressing, not a pretty, sad, sorry; welcome; common, rare; awesome, spectacular SYNONYMS sight NOUN