sighting

«sighting» in Mova's school dictionary: an occasion when someone sees something rare, unusual or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a sighting, sightings); verb form (-ing form of «sight»)

meaning for a pupil

1) A sighting is an occasion when someone sees something rare, unusual or wanted: a bird, a whale, a UFO or a missing person. tree →

2) «Sighting» is also the -ing form of «sight» (to see or catch sight of), or of aiming a gun or telescope (sighting it). tree →

sense in the lessons

In nature lessons, birdwatchers record sightings of birds in a log; scientists count sightings to see if animals are rare. In news, police ask for sightings of a missing person or animal. In stories, «UFO sightings» and «ghost sightings» are unproven reports. Phrases: «a rare sighting», «reported sightings», «first sighting», «UFO sighting».

examples

• There was a rare sighting of a kingfisher by the river. tree →
• Our class recorded ten bird sightings in one hour. tree →
• Police asked for any sightings of the missing dog. tree →
• The first sighting of land made the sailors cheer. tree →
• There have been many UFO sightings, but none has been proved. tree →
• The tally chart showed sightings of each bird. tree →

note

Countable. A sighting is a report that someone saw something; it is not proof. Do not confuse with «siting» (choosing the place for something) or «citing» (quoting), which sound the same. In tally and data problems, each sighting counts as one.

In the corpora

• People still report thylacine sightings, but none have been proven.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «sighting» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.