set sights on


set (one's) sights on (someone or something)

To identify, regard, or focus on someone or something as one's goal. Every since she was a little girl, Janet has set her sights on being a fighter pilot. They're setting their sights on you to be their new head of marketing.See also: on, set, sight

set one's sights on someone or something

Fig. to regard having someone or something as one's goal. He wanted a wife and he had set his sights on Alice. James set his sights on a law degree.See also: on, set, sight

set your ˈsights on something/on doing something

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have your sights ˈset on something/on doing something

try to achieve or get something: She’s set her sights on an Olympic gold. ♢ He has his sights on owning the biggest property company in the USA.You look through the sights of a gun to aim at the target.See also: on, set, sight, something

set (one's) sights on

To have as a goal: She set her sights on medical school.See also: on, set, sight

set one's sights on, to

To select as one’s goal. The sights in this expression are a device such as a pair of knobs or notches placed on a firearm to help one take aim. The figurative use dates from the mid-twentieth century and also appears in such phrases as to raise one’s sights, meaning to aim higher, or to lower one’s sights, meaning to be somewhat less ambitious. The Economist used it on December 9, 1950, “The United States must now raise its sights, in terms of both manpower and production.” See also: set, sight