SIGHING

Verb

sighing

present participle of sigh

Noun

sighing (plural sighings)

The utterance of a sigh.

Anagrams

• Higgins, niggish

Source: Wiktionary


Sigh"ing, a.

Definition: Uttering sighs; grieving; lamenting. "Sighing millions." Cowper.

– Sigh"ing*ly, adv.

SIGH

Sigh, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sighed; p. pr. & vb. n. Sighing.] Etym: [OE. sighen, si; cf. also OE. siken, AS. sican, and OE. sighten, si, sichten, AS. siccettan; all, perhaps, of imitative origin.]

1. 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.

2. Hence, to lament; to grieve. He sighed deeply in his spirit. Mark viii. 12.

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

Note: An extraordinary pronunciation of this word as sith is still heard in England and among the illiterate in the United States.

Sigh, v. t.

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

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

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

Sigh, n. Etym: [OE. sigh; cf. OE. sik. See Sigh, v. i.]

1. 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. Shak.

2. Figuratively, a manifestation of grief; a lan With their sighs the air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite. Milton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

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