Definition of "sigh"

sigh¹

/saɪ/

verb
third-person singular simple present sighs, present participle sighing, simple past and past participle sighed
1. (intransitive) 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, frustration, or the like.
  Quotations
  A waiter brought his aperitif, which was a small scotch and soda, and as he sipped it gratefully he sighed. ‘Civilized,’ he said to Mr. Campion. ‘Humanizing.’ […] ‘Cigars and summer days and women in big hats with swansdown face-powder, that's what it reminds me of.’
  1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess‎
2. (intransitive) To lament; to grieve.
  Quotations
  He sighed deeply in his spirit.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Mark 8:12
3. (transitive) To utter sighs over; to lament or mourn over.
  Quotations
  Ages to come, and men unborn, / Shall bless her name, and sigh her fate.
  1695, Matthew Prior, An ode presented to the king, on His Majesty's arrival in Holland, after the Queen's death
  The lassie had grace given her to refuse, but with a woeful heart, and Heriotside rode off in black discontent, leaving poor Ailie to sigh her love. He came back the next day and the next, but aye he got the same answer.
  1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
4. (intransitive) To make a sound like sighing.
  Quotations
  And the coming wind did roar more loud, / And the sails did sigh like sedge.
  1797–1798 (date written), [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”, in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], published 1798
  The winter winds are wearily sighing.
  1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Death of the Old Year”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […]
5. (transitive) To exhale (the breath) in sighs.
  Quotations
  Never man sighed truer breath.
  c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene v]
6. (transitive) To express by sighs; to utter in or with sighs.
  Quotations
  They […] sighed forth proverbs.
  c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i]
  The gentle swain […] sighs back her grief.
  1763, Torquato Tasso, translated by John Hoole, Jerusalem Delivered

sigh²

/saɪ/

noun
plural sighs
1. A deep, prolonged audible inhale and exhale of breath; as when fatigued, frustrated, grieved, or relieved; the act of sighing.
  Quotations
  To Pollyanna the air was all the more stifling after that cool breath of the out of doors; but she did not complain. She only drew a long quivering sigh.
  1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 7, in Pollyanna‎, L.C. Page
2. (figurative) a manifestation of grief; a lament.
3. (Cockney rhyming slang) A person who is bored.
interjection
1. An expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, frustration, or the like, often used in casual written contexts.

Definition of "sigh"

sigh1

verb

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sigh2

noun

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interjection

sigh¹

sigh²