noun | verb
eyeeye1 /aɪ/ ●●● S1 W1 noun 1
BODY PART [countable] one of the two parts of the body that you see with: Erica has green eyes. Her eyes were bright with happiness. Close your eyes and go to sleep. Tom opened his eyes. There were tears in her eyes. Louise’s eyes widened in surprise.2WAY OF SEEING/UNDERSTANDING [countable usually singular] a particular way of seeing, judging, or understanding something: critical/trained eye Always read your work again with a critical eye. The story is told through the eyes of a child (=from the child’s point of view). He became a hero in the eyes of millions of Americans (=in their opinion).3keep an eye on somebody/something informal a)to carefully watch someone or something, especially because you expect something bad to happen: Firefighters kept a wary eye on the dry hills. b)to take care of someone or something and keep him, her, or it safe: Could you keep an eye on my luggage? I’ll keep an eye on the kids for you. c)to carefully watch something, especially in order to do something with it: Keep your eye on the ball and swing the bat evenly.4lay/set eyes on somebody/something to see something or meet someone, especially for the first time: We loved the house from the moment we set eyes on it.5eye contact if you have eye contact with another person, you are looking directly at each other's eyes: People who are lying often don’t make eye contact.6all eyes are on somebody/something (also all eyes focus on somebody/something) used to say that everyone is looking at or paying attention to someone or something: The score was 3–3, and all eyes were on the batter. All eyes were on the White House during the recent crisis.7keep an eye out (for somebody/something) (also keep your eyes out/open/peeled) to watch carefully so that you will notice someone or something when it appears: Art dealers are being asked to keep an eye out for the stolen paintings. Keep your eyes peeled for bargains at the farmers’ market.8with your eyes (wide) open knowing fully what the problems, difficulties, results, etc. of a situation might be: They went into the deal with their eyes open.9have a (good) eye for something to be good at noticing and recognizing a particular type of thing, especially something attractive, valuable, etc.: Greene has an eye for detail.10cannot take your eyes off somebody/something to be unable to stop looking at someone or something, especially because he or she is very attractive or interesting: She was so beautiful I simply couldn’t take my eyes off her.11the naked eye if you can see something with the naked eye, you can see it without using any artificial help such as a telescope or microscope: The comet will be visible to the naked eye.12see eye to eye if two people or groups see eye to eye, they agree with each other: We don’t always see eye to eye, but we get along.13close/shut your eyes to something to ignore something or pretend that you do not know it is happening: We can’t close our eyes to the gang problems in schools.14can/could do something with your eyes closed/shut used to say you can do something easily and without any difficulty: You could run that place with your eyes shut.15have your eye on something to have noticed something that you want to buy or have: Rodrigues has his eye on the major leagues (=he wants to play professional baseball). We have our eyes on a nice little house near the beach.16have your eye on somebody a)to notice someone, especially because you think he or she is attractive and you are romantically interested: I’ve had my eye on my brother's roommate for a while. b)to notice someone and consider him or her suitable for a job: Ailey had his eye on a couple of Jamaican dancers.17with an eye to/toward (doing) something if you do something with an eye to something else, you do it in order that a second thing will happen: Most novels are published with an eye to commercial success.18eye to eye in a place where you can see someone, especially in the same room: A lot of business people prefer doing business eye to eye.SPOKEN PHRASES19in front of/before your (very) eyes happening where you can clearly see something, used especially when what you see is surprising or shocking: The Soviet Union fell apart before our eyes.20somebody has eyes bigger than his/her stomach (also somebody’s eyes are bigger than their stomach) said when you take more food than you are able to eat21somebody couldn’t believe his/her eyes said when someone sees something very surprising: Then Mark walked in. She couldn’t believe her eyes!22have eyes in the back of your head to know what is happening all around you, even when this might seem impossible: You need to have eyes in the back of your head to be a teacher.23have eyes like a hawk to notice every small detail or everything that is happening, and therefore to be difficult to deceive: My mother had eyes like a hawk.24my eye! (also in a pig’s eye!) old-fashioned said when you do not believe what someone has just said25drop/lower your eyes to look down, especially because you are shy, embarrassed, or ashamed: Suzanne dropped her eyes and blushed.26somebody’s eyes pop (out of their head) informal used to say someone is very surprised, excited, or shocked by something he or she sees: Grillo spotted a 16-year-old hockey player who made his eyes pop out.27make eyes at somebody to look at someone in a way that shows you find him or her sexually attractive: She’s making eyes at you.28an eye for an eye the idea that a person should be punished for a crime by doing a similar thing to him or her that was done to the person who was hurt by the crime29keep/have one eye on something to be paying attention to one thing while you are also doing something else: Responsible companies should keep one eye on profits at all times.30somebody’s eyes are glued to something used to say someone is watching something so carefully that he or she does not notice anything else: Their eyes were glued to the news report on TV.31under the (watchful/stern etc.) eye of somebody while being watched by someone who is making sure you behave or do something correctly: The eldest daughter cooked dinner under the watchful eye of her mother.32take your eye off something to stop watching something carefully: Don’t take your eye off the ball.33only have eyes for somebody to only love and be interested in someone and no one else34NEEDLE [countable] the hole in a needle that you put thread through35POTATO [countable] a dark spot on a potato from which a new plant can grow36STORM [singular] the calm center of a storm, especially a hurricane or cyclone37be all eyes to watch carefully what is happening or what someone is doing: Five-year-old Ryan was all eyes during his first trip to the ballpark.38run/cast your eye over something to look at something quickly: Archer ran his eye over the headlines.39(for your) eyes only said or written when something is secret and must only be seen by one particular person40CAMERA [singular] the eye of the camera is the part that you look through41CLOTHING [countable] a small circle or U-shaped piece of metal used together with a hook for fastening clothes[Origin: Old English eage] → see also be the apple of somebody’s eye at apple (2), not bat an eye/eyelid at bat2 (3), bird's-eye view, black eye, turn a blind eye (to something) at blind1 (3), catch somebody’s eye at catch1 (15), see something out of the corner of your eye at corner1 (9), the evil eye at evil1 (5), -eyed, look somebody in the eye/face at look1 (12), there’s more to somebody/something than meets the eye at meet1 (15), in your mind’s eye at mind1 (47), here’s mud in your eye at mud (3), open somebody’s eyes (to something) at open2 (3), private eye, red-eye, a sight for sore eyes at sight1 (13), snake eyes, in the twinkling of an eye at twinkling (1), keep a weather eye on something at weather1 (5), pull the wool over somebody’s eyes at wool (4)COLLOCATIONSverbsopen your eyes I slowly opened my eyes and stretched.close/shut your eyes Joe closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep.roll your eyes (=move your eyes up to show you are annoyed, bored, frustrated, etc.) When her mom told her to clean her room, she rolled her eyes.rub your eyes Anna rubbed her eyes wearily.shade/shield your eyes (=protect them from a bright light or the sun) They gazed out to sea, shielding their eyes from the sun.narrow your eyes (=partly close them, especially to show that you do not trust someone) She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.drop/lower your eyes (=look down at the ground) The servants lowered their eyes as the countess walked past.avert your eyes literary (=look away from something) He averted his eyes from the body.somebody’s eyes open Suddenly his eyes opened.somebody’s eyes close She let her eyes close for just a moment.somebody’s eyes narrow (=become half closed, especially because someone does not trust another person) Her dark eyes narrowed for a moment.somebody’s eyes widen (=become more open because they are surprised) His eyes widened in shock.somebody’s eyes sparkle/shine (=show that they are very happy) Jenny’s eyes sparkled with excitement.somebody’s eyes light up (=become excited) His eyes lit up when I mentioned the word money.adjectivesbrown/blue/green/gray eyes Both their children have blue eyes.dark eyes (also dark/deep brown eyes) Louise’s large dark eyes shone in the firelight.pale/light eyes (also pale/light blue eyes) She looked into his deep blue eyes.hazel eyes (=pale brown and slightly green or golden) He was a quiet kindly man, with hazel eyes.a black eye (=with a bruise around it after being hit) He had a black eye and a cut on his face.red/bloodshot eyes (=red because you are upset, tired, sick, etc.) My mother’s eyes were red from crying.big eyes She looked at me with those big brown eyes.small eyes His small cold eyes seemed full of menace.round/wide eyes The children gazed at the screen, their eyes wide with excitement.narrow eyes He has a thin face and narrow eyes.bulging eyes (=round and sticking far out) His bulging eyes made him look like a frog.beady eyes (=small round and bright, and noticing a lot of things) His beady eyes darted around the room.deep-set eyes (=far back in someone’s face) Mac’s eyebrows were thick and dark, above deep-set eyes.close-set eyes (=close together) He had a small nose and close-set eyes.wide-set eyes (=wide apart) Claudette’s wide-set eyes gave her a look of innocence.sunken eyes (=having fallen inwards, especially because of age or illness) The man’s eyes were sunken, with deep black rings around them.sleepy/tired eyes His eyes looked sleepy.sad eyes Her beautiful eyes suddenly looked sad.tearful/moist/misty eyes (=showing that you want to cry) As she left the village, people waved at her with tearful eyes.bright eyes (=happy or excited) Her eyes were bright with hope.cold eyes (=unfriendly and not showing any emotion) Her eyes were cold and uncaring.puffy eyes (=swollen because you are sick or upset) The girl’s eyes were puffy and full of tears.soulful eyes (=showing strong emotions, especially sadness) The dog looked up at her with big soulful eyes.wild eyes (=very angry, afraid, etc.) He stared at them with wild eyes.hungry/greedy eyes (=showing that you want something very much) The men looked around the room with their greedy eyes.somebody’s eyes are open Keep your eyes open while you’re driving!somebody’s eyes are closed/shut His eyes were closed and he seemed to be asleep. noun | verb
eyeeye2 ●○○ verb (eyeing or eying) [transitive] to look at someone or something carefully and with great interest, often because you do not trust a person or because you want something very much: Sandy eyed him suspiciously.