bight

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English bight, biȝt, byȝt (also bought, bowght, bouȝt; see bought), from Old English byht (“bend, angle, corner; bay, bight”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhti, from Proto-Germanic *buhtiz (“bend, curve”), from Proto-Germanic *beuganą (“to bend, bow”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to bend”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /baɪt/ Rhymes: -aɪt Homophones: bite, by't, byte === Noun === bight (plural bights) A corner, bend, or angle; a hollow the bight of a horse's knee the bight of an elbow (geography) An area of sea lying between two promontories, larger than a bay, wider than a gulf. (geography) A bend or curve in a coastline, river, or other geographical feature. A curve in a rope. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === bight (third-person singular simple present bights, present participle bighting, simple past and past participle bighted) (transitive) To arrange or fasten (a rope) in bights. === See also === Appendix:Parts of the knot