SIGH • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Sigh

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noun

Sigh n.

A deep and prolonged audible inspiration or respiration of air, as when fatigued or grieved; the act of sighing. "I could drive the boat with my sighs."

Figuratively, a manifestation of grief. "With their sighs the air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite."

verb

Sigh v. t.

To exhale (the breath) in sighs. "Never man sighed truer breath."

To utter sighs over; to lament or mourn over. "Ages to come, and men unborn, Shall bless her name, and sigh her fate."

To express by sighs; to utter in or with sighs. "They... sighed forth proverbs." "The gentle swain... sighs back her grief."

Sigh v. i. (past & past part. sighed; pres. part. sighing)

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.

Hence, to lament; to grieve. "He sighed deeply in his spirit."

To make a sound like sighing. "And the coming wind did roar more loud, And the sails did sigh like sedge." "The winter winds are wearily sighing."

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Etymology of 'Sigh'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sigh" Quotes from Famous Books

... with elaborate care,—then came a deep sigh, and she exclaimed, 'Well! he is our brother, ...

— The Heir of Redclyffe • Charlotte M. Yonge

... mere hypocrisy. It is simply an hallucination of jingoism. Take a trivial instance in point. We have all read in the newspapers derisive accounts of disorderly scenes in the French Chamber or the Austrian Reichstag; we all know the complacent sigh with which England is wont on such occasions to thank God that she is not as one of those. Does anybody think that this attitude will be at all modified by recent occurrences at Westminster? By no means. Lord Hugh Cecil, his gibbering and gesticulating quite forgotten, will be assuring ...

— The Open Secret of Ireland • T. M. Kettle

... of the present age at the expense of past ages. Indeed, it is important, if you wish ultimately to have a wide, catholic taste, to guard against the too common assumption that nothing modern will stand comparison with the classics. In every age there have been people to sigh: "Ah, yes. Fifty years ago we had a few great writers. But they are all dead, and no young ones are arising to take their place." This attitude of mind is deplorable, if not silly, and is a certain proof of narrow taste. It is a surety that in 1959 gloomy and egregious persons will be saying: ...

— LITERARY TASTE • ARNOLD BENNETT

... agonising hour of danger and deep anxiety. He felt the advantage of being a good swimmer, and exerted himself to the utmost with his feet and one hand; the other was holding fast the young girl. Every possible effort he made to keep up his strength in order to reach the land. He heard Clara sigh, and perceived that a kind of convulsive shuddering had seized her; and he held her the tighter. A single heavy wave broke over them—the current lifted them. The water was so clear, though deep, that Joergen thought for a moment he could see the ...

— The Sand-Hills of Jutland • Hans Christian Andersen

... putting the deck away. "That would only be true if I hadn't let you see your hits and misses as each deal proceeded. You made succeeding guesses in the knowledge of what had already been dealt. Actually, your score was below average for trained observers without psi powers." She heaved a sigh, which somehow seemed to be of relief. "And now, you crazy cowpoke," she said, "tell me what this is ...

— Card Trick • Walter Bupp AKA Randall Garrett

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