see

Verb

see (third-person singular simple present sees, present participle seeing, simple past saw or (dialectal) seen or (dialectal) seent or (dialectal) seed, past participle seen or (dialectal) seent or (dialectal) seed or (dialectal) saw)

1. (transitive) To perceive or detect someone or something with the eyes, or as if by sight.
   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 18:

     Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path. […] It twisted and turned, […] and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.

   • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

     But Richmond […] appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw […] that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     I want to see this house!

     Audio (US):

     (file)

   1. To witness or observe by personal experience.

      Hyponyms: experience, suffer

      Now I've seen it all!

      I have been blind since birth and I love to read Braille. When the books arrive in from the library, I can’t wait to see what stories they have sent me.

      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 8:51, column 1:

        Uerely, verely I ſay vnto you, If a man keepe my ſaying, hee ſhall neuer ſee death.

      • 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Mr. Ralph Nickleby cuts an old Acquaintance. It would also appear from the contents hereof, that a joke, even between Husband and Wife, may be sometimes carried too far.”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 434:

        […] And remember this, 'scape-gallows,' said Ralph, menacing him with his hand, 'that if we meet again, and you so much as notice me by one begging gesture, you shall see the inside of a jail once more […]

   2. To watch (a movie) at a cinema, or a show on television etc.

      I saw the latest Tarantino flick last week.

2. To form a mental picture of.
   • 2013 August 23, Mark Cocker, “Wings of Desire”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 11, page 28:

     It is not just that we see birds as little versions of ourselves. It is also that, at the same time, they stand outside any moral process. They are utterly indifferent. This absolute oblivion on their part, this lack of sharing, is powerful.

   • 2014 October 14, David Malcolm, “The Great War Re-Remembered: Allohistory and Allohistorical Fiction”, in Martin Löschnigg, Marzena Sokolowska-Paryz, editors, The Great War in Post-Memory Literature and Film‎, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG., →ISBN, page 173:

     The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is seen as key in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt's and Ferguson's examinations of allohistory) (cf. Rodiek 25–26; Ritter 15–16; Helbig 32).

   1. (figuratively) To understand.

      Do you see what I mean?

      • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

        Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […] . Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming […] . A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul.

   2. To come to a realization of having been mistaken or misled.

      They're blind to the damage they do, but someday they'll see.

   3. (transitive) To foresee, predict, or prophesy.

      The oracle saw the destruction of the city.

      • 1967, Alan Gordon, Garry Bonner (lyrics and music), “Happy Together”, performed by The Turtles:

        I can't see me lovin' nobody but you / For all my life / When you're with me, baby the skies'll be blue / For all my life

   4. (used in the imperative) Used to emphasise a proposition.

      You see, Johnny, your Dad isn't your real father.

      You're not welcome here any more, see?

3. (social) To meet, to visit.
   1. To have an interview with; especially, to make a call upon; to visit.

      to go to see a friend

      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 15:35, column 2:

        And Samuel came no more to ſee Saul vntill the day of his death: neuertheleſſe, Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king ouer Iſrael.

   2. To date frequently.

      I've been seeing her for two months.

      • 2022 September 9, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Friday, Sep 9, 2022:

        "You're... remarrying? I didn't even know you were seeing someone. And she's going to live here?"

   3. To visit for a medical appointment.

      You should see a doctor about that rash on your arm.

      I've been seeing a therapist for three years now.

4. (ergative) To be the setting or time of.

   The 20th century saw humanity's first space exploration.

   1999 saw the release of many great films.

   • 1995 June 3, David Sprague, “Buffalo Tom Reaches Crossroads: EastWest Trio At Make-Or-Break Point”, in Billboard, volume 107, number 22, page 9:

     It seems as if every passing year sees the mainstream embrace a longtime cult-favorite alternative rock band.

5. (by extension) Chiefly followed by that: to ensure that something happens, especially by personally witnessing it.

   I'll see you hang for this

   I saw that they didn't make any more trouble.

   • 1765, William Blackstone, “Of Corporations”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book I (Of the Rights of Persons), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 469:

     As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, which would otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]

   • 2001, Joan Lock, Death in Perspective, London: Robert Hale, →ISBN, page 52:

     'Don't worry. You won't lose out. I'll see you get your share of the action. If not now, later.'

   • 2022 October 27, Brian Porter, “The last barrel of oil should be a Canadian one”, in The Globe and Mail‎, Toronto, ON: The Woodbridge Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-17:

     We have forgotten that such a transition will require compromise, as we address real energy needs today, and investment, as we adapt to cleaner ways of producing energy tomorrow. A well-managed transition will see that the opportunities flowing from the transformation dramatically exceed these costs.

6. (transitive) To wait upon; attend, escort.

   I saw the old lady safely across the road.

   You can see yourself out.

   • 2020, Rich Thompson, Jonny Robinson (lyrics and music), “Your Will Be Done”‎:

     And in this Name we overcome, for You shall see us safely home.

7. (gambling, transitive) To respond to another player's bet with a bet of equal value.

   I'll see your twenty dollars and raise you ten.

8. To determine by trial or experiment; to find out (if or whether).

   I'll come over later and see if I can fix your computer.

   You think I can't beat you in a race, eh? We'll see.

9. (used in the imperative) To reference or to study for further details.

   Step 4: In the system, check out the laptop to the student (see: "Logging Resources" in the Tutor Manual).

   For a complete proof of the Poincaré conjecture, see Appendix C.

10. To examine something closely, or to utilize something, often as a temporary alternative.

    Can I see that lighter for a second? Mine just quit working.

11. To include as one of something's experiences.

    The equipment has not seen usage outside of our projects.

    I saw military service in Vietnam.

Interjection

see

1. Introducing an explanation

   Synonyms: look, well, so

   See, in order to win the full prize we would have to come up with a scheme to land a rover on the Moon.

See also

• look
• sight
• watch

Noun

see (plural sees)

1. A diocese, archdiocese; a region of a church, generally headed by a bishop or an archbishop.

   Hyponyms: bishopric, archbishopric

2. The office of a bishop or archbishop.

   Hyponyms: bishopric, archbishopric

3. A seat; a site; a place where sovereign power is exercised.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 2, page 478:

     Ioue laught on Venus from his ſouerayne ſee

See also

• cathedra
• cathedral
• chair
• throne

Noun

see (plural sees)

1. Alternative form of cee; the name of the Latin-script letter C/c.
   • 1881 April, J. B. Rundell, “The Irregularities of English Spelling: what they Cost and what they are Worth”, in The Spelling Reformer, and Journal of the English Spelling Reform Association, volume I, number 10, London, page 147:

     see, ar, eye, ee, ess, cries

   • 1984, Eva Holmquist, No Certain Time, Libra Publishers, →ISBN, page 17:

     They were still shocked if you said “eff you see kay” out loud, though it didn’t stop any of them from doing it.

   • 1996, Sycamore Review, volume 8, page 116:

     eff you see kay why oh you.

   • 2009, Eric Barnes, Shimmer, Denver, Colo.: Unbridled Books, →ISBN, page 91:

     I hear you. But hear me out, all right? Because I mean what I’m about to say. Eff-you-see-kay-why-oh-you. Fuck you.

   • 2020, Paul Richardson, Taylah’s Got Talent, →ISBN:

     Her mother said, “Maybe you can have ‘Muck Donnas’, or we could have fish and chips.” Krissy shook her head, “Nah. We no have fwishenchit. We have Kay Eff See nuggers?”

   • 2023, Callum McSorley, chapter 15, in Squeaky Clean, Pushkin Press, →ISBN:

     Same old answer: the eff-you-see-kay-you-pee.

Derived terms

• seekoei
• seesout
• seevis
• seevoël
• seewater

Usage notes

In Northern Estonia, and in the standard language, see is both the proximal ("this") and distal ("that") determiner. In Southern Estonia, too is used as the distal determiner.

Declension

Derived terms

See also

• too

Alternative forms

• cee

Noun

see

1. cee (The name of the Latin-script letter C/c)
   • 1990, Eila Hämäläinen, Aletaan I: Suomen kielen oppikirja vasta-alkajille (Let's begin I: Finnish textbook for the beginners), Helsinki: Helsingin Yliopisto (University of Helsinki), →ISBN, page 23:

     Luemme kirjaimet näin: aa bee see dee ee äf gee hoo ii jii koo äl äm än oo pee kuu är äs tee uu vee kaksois-vee äks yy tset ruotsalainen oo ää öö

     We read the letters as follows: aa bee see …

Numeral

see (colloquial)

1. (counting) seven

See also

• seitsemän (“seven”)

Pronoun

see (dialectal, rare)

1. (Southwest Finnish) Alternative form of se.

Inflection

Descendants

• Dutch: zee f
  • Afrikaans: see
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: sei
  • Javindo: see
  • Negerhollands: see
  • → Saramaccan: zé
  • → Sranan Tongo: se
• Limburgish: zieë f
• West Flemish: zji m or f, zêe

Alternative forms

• ce, sæ, se, sea, sei, ze

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛː/, /seː/
• Rhymes: -ɛː

Noun

see (plural sees)

1. sea, ocean
2. A body of water, a lake

Alternative forms

• ce, cee, se

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Noun

see (plural sees)

1. seat, chair
2. dwelling, residence
3. A royal or episcopal chair
4. A royal or episcopal polity or realm
5. A royal or episcopal residence
6. (Christianity) The Kingdom of Heaven.

Noun

see f

1. (Heligoland) sea

Noun

see m (plural seen)

1. Alternative form of sia m (“lake”)