eye

[[t]a͟ɪ[/t]]

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eyes, eyeing, eying (present participle), eyed

1) N-COUNT: oft poss N in pl Your eyes are the parts of your body with which you see.

I opened my eyes and looked...

Maria's eyes filled with tears.

...a tall, thin white-haired lady with piercing dark brown eyes...

He is now blind in one eye.

2) VERB If you eye someone or something in a particular way, you look at them carefully in that way.

[V n prep/adv] Sally eyed Claire with interest...

[V n prep/adv] We eyed each other thoughtfully...

[V n] Martin eyed the bottle at Marianne's elbow.

3) N-COUNT: usu sing, with supp, oft a N for n You use eye when you are talking about a person's ability to judge things or about the way in which they are considering or dealing with things.

William was a man of discernment, with an eye for quality...

Their chief negotiator turned his critical eye on the United States...

It did not take his practised eye long to notice that he was not the only one who was hanging about...

He first learnt to fish under the watchful eye of his grandmother.

4) N-COUNT: adj N An electric eye or infrared eye is a device which can recognize the presence of people or objects by detecting the light or heat coming from them.

An infra-red eye is said to detect the movement of any animal within an angle of 110 degrees at up to 10 metres.

5) N-SING: usu with poss People sometimes talk about the eye of the camera when they are talking about something being filmed or photographed, or the way something appears in a photograph or film.

I was again using the cold, unflinching eye of the camera to probe a sick society.

6) N-COUNT An eye on a potato is one of the dark spots from which new stems grow.

7) N-COUNT An eye is a small metal loop which a hook fits into, as a fastening on a piece of clothing.

8) N-COUNT The eye of a needle is the small hole at one end which the thread passes through.

9) N-SING: the N of n The eye of a storm, tornado, or hurricane is the centre of it.

The eye of the hurricane hit Florida just south of Miami.

Syn:

centre

10) → See also , private eye, shut-eye

11) PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR (emphasis) If you say that something happens before your eyes, in front of your eyes, or under your eyes, you are emphasizing that it happens where you can see it clearly and often implying that it is surprising or unpleasant.

A lot of them died in front of our eyes...

We are under the eyes of both sides all the time.

12) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR prep If you cast your eye or run your eye over something, you look at it or read it quickly.

I would be grateful if he could cast an expert eye over it and tell me what he thought of it...

If you run your eye up and down these columns you will see that the value of some of them declined.

13) PHRASE: V inflects If something catches your eye, you suddenly notice it.

→ See also eye-catching

As she turned back, a movement across the lawn caught her eye.

14) PHRASE: V inflects If you catch someone's eye, you do something to attract their attention, so that you can speak to them.

I tried to catch Chrissie's eye to find out what she was playing at.

15) PHRASE: V inflects, oft after superl, oft with brd-neg To clap eyes on someone or something, or set or lay eyes on them, means to see them. [INFORMAL]

That's probably the most bare, bleak, barren and inhospitable island I've ever had the misfortune to clap my eyes on...

What was he doing when you last set eyes on him?

Syn:

see

16) PHRASE: PHR after v If you make eye contact with someone, you look at them at the same time as they look at you, so that you are both aware that you are looking at each other. If you avoid eye contact with someone, you deliberately do not look straight at them because you feel awkward or embarrassed.

She was looking at me across the room, and we made eye contact several times...

I spent a fruitless ten minutes walking up and down the high street, desperately avoiding eye contact with passers-by.

17) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you close your eyes to something bad or if you shut your eyes to it, you ignore it.

Most governments must simply be shutting their eyes to the problem.

Syn:

ignore

18) PHRASE: V inflects If you cry your eyes out, you cry very hard. [INFORMAL]

19) PHRASE You say `an eye for an eye' or `an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' to refer to the idea that people should be punished according to the way in which they offended, for example if they hurt someone, they should be hurt equally badly in return.

...a very simple punishment code based on an-eye-for-an-eye.

20) PHRASE If there is something as far as the eye can see, there is a lot of it and you cannot see anything else beyond it.

Here, massive dunes stretched in every direction as far as the eye could see...

There are pine trees as far as the eye can see.

21) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone has an eye for something, you mean that they are good at noticing it or making judgements about it.

Susan has a keen eye for detail, so each dress is beautifully finished off.

22) PHRASE: PHR with cl-group You use expressions such as in his eyes or to her eyes to indicate that you are reporting someone's opinion and that other people might think differently.

The other serious problem in the eyes of the new government is communalism...

Richard Dorrington was, in their eyes, a very sensible and reliable man...

The practice of religion in America sometimes seems strange to European eyes.

23) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR for n If you keep your eyes open or keep an eye out for someone or something, you watch for them carefully. [INFORMAL]

I ask the mounted patrol to keep their eyes open...

You and your friends keep an eye out - if there's any trouble we'll make a break for it.

24) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR for n If you tell someone to keep their eyes peeled for something, you are telling them to watch very carefully for it. [INFORMAL]

25) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you keep an eye on something or someone, you watch them carefully, for example to make sure that they are satisfactory or safe, or not causing trouble.

I'm sure you will appreciate that we must keep a careful eye on all our running costs...

I went for a run there, keeping an eye on the children the whole time...

They're using villagers to keep an eye on each other, to spy on each other.

26) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you make eyes at someone, you look at them in a way which shows that you find them attractive and which is intended to get their attention. [INFORMAL, OLD-FASHIONED]

27) PHRASE You say `there's more to this than meets the eye' when you think a situation is not as simple as it seems to be.

I have to admit this whole business is very puzzling. Even your father says he thinks there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.

28) PHRASE: V inflects If something, especially something surprising or impressive, meets your eyes, you see it.

The first sight that met my eyes on reaching the front door was the church enveloped in flames.

29) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you say that all eyes are on something or that the eyes of the world are on something, you mean that everyone is paying careful attention to it and what will happen. [JOURNALISM]

All eyes will be on tomorrow's vote...

The eyes of the world were now on the police.

30) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If someone has their eye on you, they are watching you carefully to see what you do.

As the boat plodded into British waters and up the English Channel, Customs had their eye on her.

31) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you have your eye on something, you want to have it. [INFORMAL]

If you're saving up for a new outfit you've had your eye on, cheap dinners for a month might let you buy it.

32) PHRASE: PHR after v If you say that you did something with your eyes open or with your eyes wide open, you mean that you knew about the problems and difficulties that you were likely to have.

We want all our members to undertake this trip responsibly, with their eyes open.

33) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to n If something opens your eyes, it makes you aware that something is different from the way that you thought it was.

Watching your child explore the world about her can open your eyes to delights long forgotten.

34) PHR-RECIP: V inflects, PHR with n, pl-n PHR If you see eye to eye with someone, you agree with them and have the same opinions and views.

Yuriko saw eye to eye with Yul on almost every aspect of the production...

We've never seen eye to eye.

35) PHRASE: usu prep PHR If you say that someone or something is at the eye of the storm, you mean they are the main subject of a public disagreement.

The bowlers at the eye of the storm were nowhere in evidence.

...the minister in the eye of the storm.

36) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n When you take your eyes off the thing you have been watching or looking at, you stop looking at it.

She took her eyes off the road to glance at me...

Nina couldn't take her eyes off Philip.

37) PHRASE: PHR after v If someone sees or considers something through your eyes, they consider it in the way that you do, from your point of view.

She tried to see things through his eyes...

The story is told through the eyes of Inspector Simon Potter.

38) PHRASE: v-link PHR, usu PHR in n (emphasis) If you say that you are up to your eyes in something, you are emphasizing that you have a lot of it to deal with, and often that you are very busy. [INFORMAL]

I am up to my eyes in work...

The women are just up to their eyes in debt.

39) apple of your eye → see apple

to turn a blind eye → see blind

to feast your eyes → see feast

to look someone in the eye → see look

in your mind's eye → see mind

the naked eye → see naked

to pull the wool over someone's eyes → see wool

Phrasal Verbs:

- eye up