Sighs

sigh  (s)

v. sighed, sigh·ing, sighs

v.intr.

1.

a. To exhale audibly in a long deep breath, as in weariness or relief.

b. To emit a similar sound: willows sighing in the wind.

2. To feel longing or grief; yearn: sighing for their lost youth.

v.tr.

1. To express with or as if with an audible exhalation.

2. Archaic To lament.

n.

The act or sound of sighing.

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[Middle English sighen, probably back-formation from sighte, past tense of siken, to sigh, from Old English scan.]

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sigher n.

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Sighs 

See Also: GROANS AND WHISPERS

1. A collective sigh, like an escaping jet of steam —Robert Traver
2. Gave a deep sigh, like pain was a habit —Cornell Woolrich
3. Releasing a muffled sigh like a baby animal with a full belly —Kenzaburo Oë
4. Sighed, a rustling sound like wandering autumn leaves —Derek Lambert
5. Sighed like a long-suffering teacher —Ramsey Campbell
6. Sighed like a pair of bellows —William McIlvanney
7. Sighed like a poet in love —Beryl Markham
8. Sighed once with relief … like a low note on a bagpipe —Sue Grafton
9. Sighed with pain, as if a knife had twisted deep inside —Louise Erdrich
10. Sighing, like a bagpipe’s dying breath —Patrick White
11. Sighing like a punctured tire —Guy Bolton
12. Sighing like the night wind and sobbing like the rain —Stephen Foster

    This is a line from the song, “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,” which begins with yet another simile: “I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair, borne like a vapor on the summer air.”

13. Sigh like some sweet plaintive melody —William Motherwell
14. A sigh of relief escaped his lips like a long-needed crap —John Lennon
15. Sighs as if a mountain lay on her chest —Cora Sandel
16. Sigh … tender and enchanting, like the wind outside a wood in the evening —Virginia Woolf
17. A sigh that was like a gust of sand raised and dropped suddenly by the wind —Flannery O’Connor