What does "sigh" mean?
Sigh: Hence, to lament; to grieve. He sighed deeply in his spirit. Mark viii.
Additional senses
- 2.3. 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.
- 3.To exhale (the breath) in sighs. Never man sighed truer breath. Shak.
- 4.To utter sighs over; to lament or mourn over. Ages to come, and men unborn, Shall bless her name, and sigh her fate. Pior.
- 5.To express by sighs; to utter in or with sighs. They . . . sighed forth proverbs. Shak. The gentle swain . . . sighs back her grief. Hoole.
- 6.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.
- 7.Figuratively, a manifestation of grief; a lan With their sighs the air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite. Milton.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00