on sight

See also: onsight

English

Pronunciation

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Prepositional phrase

on sight

1. (idiomatic) Immediately when sighted.

   I recognized him on sight.

   • 1962 October, “Talking of Trains: The collisions at Connington”, in Modern Railways, page 232:

     "Permissive" working allows more than one train to be in a block section at one time but trains must be run at low speed in order to stop on sight behind the train in front. Such working is often authorised to allow freight trains to "bunch" together to await a path through a bottleneck instead of being strung out over several block sections, as would be necessary if absolute working were in force.

2. (by extension) Immediately something has come to one's attention.

   He dismissed the idea on sight.

Translations

immediately when sighted

• German: gleich (de), sofort (de), unmittelbar (de), beim ersten Anblick, auf den ersten Blick
• Italian: a vista
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} vid första anblick

when it comes to one's attention

• French: à vue (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: gleich (de), sofort (de), unmittelbar (de)

Noun

on sight (plural on sights)

1. (climbing) An ascent of a route without falling, when one has been advised on it or has seen it.

See also

• on site, on-site, onsite

Anagrams

• hosting, noights, thingos, toshing