Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - eye

(eyes, eyeing, or eying, eyed) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. 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. N-COUNT: oft poss N in pl 2. If you eye someone or something in a particular way, you look at them carefully in that way. Sally eyed Claire with interest... Martin eyed the bottle at Marianne’s elbow. VERB: V n prep/adv, V n 3. 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... He first learnt to fish under the watchful eye of his grandmother. N-COUNT: usu sing, with supp, oft a N for n 4. An eye on a potato is one of the dark spots from which new stems grow. N-COUNT 5. An eye is a small metal loop which a hook fits into, as a fastening on a piece of clothing. N-COUNT 6. The eye of a needle is the small hole at one end which the thread passes through. N-COUNT 7. The eye of a storm, tornado, or hurricane is the centre of it. The eye of the hurricane hit Florida just south of Miami. N-SING: the N of n 8. see also black eye, private eye, shut-eye 9. 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... PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR c darkgreen]emphasis 10. 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... PHRASE: V inflects, PHR prep 11. If something catches your eye, you suddenly notice it. As she turned back, a movement across the lawn caught her eye. PHRASE: V inflects see also eye-catching 12. 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. PHRASE: V inflects 13. 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 and bleak island I’ve ever had the misfortune to clap eyes on... What was he doing when you last set eyes on him? PHRASE: V inflects, oft after superl, oft with brd-neg 14. 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. PHRASE: PHR after v 15. 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. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n 16. If you cry your eyes out, you cry very hard. (INFORMAL) PHRASE: V inflects 17. 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. There are pine trees as far as the eye can see. PHRASE 18. If you say that someone has an eye for something, you mean that they are good at noticing it or making judgments about it. Susan has a keen eye for detail, so each dress is beautifully finished off. PHRASE: V inflects 19. 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... PHRASE: PHR with cl-group 20. 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. PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR for n 21. 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... PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n 22. 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. This whole business is very puzzling. There is a lot more to it than meets the eye. PHRASE 23. 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. PHRASE: V inflects 24. 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. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n 25. 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. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n 26. 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. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n 27. 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. PHRASE: PHR after v 28. 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. PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to n 29. 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... PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with n, pl-n PHR 30. 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... PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n 31. 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... PHRASE: PHR after v 32. 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... PHRASE: v-link PHR, usu PHR in n c darkgreen]emphasis 33. the apple of your eye: see apple to turn a blind eye: see blind to feast your eyes: see feast in your mind’s eye: see mind the naked eye: see naked to pull the wool over someone’s eyes: see wool