SIGHINGS

Noun

sighings

plural of sighing

Source: Wiktionary

SIGHING

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