site

noun \ ˈsīt \

Definition of site

1 a :the spatial location of an actual or planned structure or set of structures (such as a building, town, or monuments)

b :a space of ground occupied or to be occupied by a building

2 a :the place, scene, or point of an occurrence or event

a picnic site

b :one or more Internet addresses at which an individual or organization provides information to others

an FTP site

; especially :website

See site defined for English-language learners

See site defined for kids

Examples of site in a Sentence

Hard hats must be worn on the construction site.
They visited the site of their future house.
The company has chosen a new site for its office building.
the site of the battle
Federal investigators combed through the crash site.

Recent Examples of site from the Web

Although the target site is just outside Prospect's limits, the Prospect City Council voted to spend up to $250,000 in legal fees to fight the development.

— sheldon s. shafer, The Courier-Journal, "Prospect doesn't want this senior housing project. Planners approved the rezoning anyway," 30 Aug. 2017
Eventually, the therapy will be offered at 32 sites, the company said.

— liz szabo, Kaiser Health News, "Pioneering Cancer Gene Therapy Gets Green Light — And $475,000 Price Tag," 30 Aug. 2017
The 3,000 people who spend their 9 to 5 at the construction engineering company’s headquarters have access to a coffee and juice bar, cafeteria, a gym, a dry cleaning service and a health center with a nurse practitioner and pharmacist on-site.

— sarah gish, kansascity, "Ten KC companies that spoil employees with unbelievable perks," 30 Aug. 2017
A few blocks away, Raven Cliff’s other development, Half Mile North — its name an allusion to the site’s distance from the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge — has been in business since April 2013.

— nick madigan, New York Times, "A Vibrant Turnaround for a Neglected Charleston Neighborhood," 29 Aug. 2017
Their attorney, William Emerson, said the current paved portion could hold a maximum of 40 cars, but no site plan showed that.

— karen caffarini, Post-Tribune, "Used car lot wins initial OK in Merrillville," 25 Aug. 2017
The government says the site was used to recruit and organize hundreds of people who rioted in the city on Jan. 20, the day President Donald Trump was sworn in, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage over nearly two dozen city blocks.

— tom schoenberg, Bloomberg.com, "Government Prevails in Bid for Anti-Trump Website’s Subscriber Data," 24 Aug. 2017
For a truly royal experience, consider booking a cottage on-site.

— caroline hallemann, Town & Country, "Inside the Royals' Favorite Scottish Getaway, Balmoral Castle," 24 Aug. 2017
Glycerin can be found at your local pharmacy or at a site such Amazon.

— timothy dahl, Popular Mechanics, "How To Make a DIY Fog Machine For a Spooky Halloween," 23 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'site.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

cite, sight, and site

The three homophones cite, sight, and site are occasionally confused by some people when used as nouns (sight and site) or as verbs (all three words). They needn’t cause trouble: with a little thought, most people who struggle with them can settle upon the correct choice.

Cite is most often encountered in the sense of “to name in a citation”; it may also mean “to mention as an example” or “to order to appear in a court of law.“

Most of the senses of sight are concerned with the act or action of seeing. A wonderful spectacle might be described as a sight, as might the general capacity to see anything (“my sight is not as good as it once was”).

Site is most often concerned with location; it is related to the verb situate "to locate" and situation "a position." A building site is the place where the building is, or will be, located. In contemporary English, site has increasingly been used as a shortened form of website, for the location of a specific page on the Internet.

If you connect citation with cite, eyesight with sight, and situate with site, you are unlikely to make an error.

Origin and Etymology of site

Middle English, place, position, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French sit, site, from Latin situs, from sinere to leave, allow

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

site Synonyms

Synonyms

emplacement, locale, locality, location, locus, point, position, place, spot, venue, where

Related Words

scene; precinct, region, section, sector; here, there

Other Building Terms

batten, cistern, hearth, lath, transom, wainscot

site

verb

Definition of site

sited; siting

transitive verb

:to place on a site or in position :locate

See site defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of site from the Web

By contrast, LeVan pointed out that his proposal would site the racino farther away from the Gettysburg park than the casino in Valley Forge is from Valley Forge National Historical Park, writes Samantha Beckett for Casino.org.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "Someone Was Actually Trying to Build a Casino Three Miles From the Gettysburg Battle Site," 3 July 2017
The jails already cost the city about $1.5 billion a year; to site and build new facilities while closing Rikers would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more, de Blasio has said.

— henry goldman, Bloomberg.com, "NYC Mayor's Management Boasts Questioned After Jails Chief Quits," 12 May 2017

First Known Use of site

15th century

SITE Defined for English Language Learners

site

noun

Definition of site for English Language Learners

: the place where something (such as a building) is, was, or will be located
: a place where something important has happened
: a place that is used for a particular activity

site

verb

Definition of site for English Language Learners

: to place or build (something) in a particular location

SITE Defined for Kids

site

noun \ ˈsīt \

Definition of site for Students

1 :the place where something (as a town or event) is found or took place

a famous battle site

2 :the space of ground a building rests upon

3 :web site

Medical Dictionary

site

noun \ ˈsīt \

medical Definition of site

:the place, scene, or point of something

the site of inflammation

— see active site

Learn More about site

See words that rhyme with site Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for site Spanish Central: Translation of site Nglish: Translation of site for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of site for Arabic speakers

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Definition of site

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Examples of site in a Sentence

Recent Examples of site from the Web

cite, sight, and site

Origin and Etymology of site

site Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Other Building Terms

site

Definition of site

Recent Examples of site from the Web

First Known Use of site

Phrases Related to SITE

Related Phrases

SITE Defined for English Language Learners

site

Definition of site for English Language Learners

site

Definition of site for English Language Learners

SITE Defined for Kids

site

Definition of site for Students

Medical Dictionary

site

medical Definition of site

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