Today we’ll be talking about words and idioms with the noun EYE.
This article comes from issue 2 (1/2023) of Your American English Magazine. You’ll find much more interesting stuff there, I’m sure.
| The eye is the part of the body that you use for looking. But there are different ways of looking. If something is interesting or beautiful, you’ll be all eyes when they show it to you. You’ll probably keep your eyes glued to it for quite a while. And what if you see an attractive person? Do you sometimes make eyes at such attractive people? Maybe you saw someone in a bar and were giving him or her the eye? Worse if you’re married. Most wives don’t tolerate their husbands’ roving eyes. | all eyes – watching sth or sb closely, very attentive keep your eyes glued to sth – to watch sth very closely for a long time make eyes at sb – to look at sb in a way that shows sexual attraction give sb the eye – to look at sb in a way that shows sexual attraction roving eye – used if you tend to look at and have sexual thoughts about other people even though you already have a wife, husband, etc. |
| But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. Sometimes you have to cast a critical eye on something or cock an eye to what other people are saying. Especially if it’s important. Then you should keep your eyes open for any signs that could help you decide. | beauty is in the eye of the beholder – used to say that different people have different ideas about what is beautiful cast a cold/critical/skeptical eye on sth – look at sth and judge it cock an/your eye/ear to – look at or listen to sb or sth with a lot of attention |
| But sometimes you don’t have to keep your eyes peeled. It’s enough to cast your eye over something to get the general idea. For example you can run your eye down a menu in a restaurant to find out more about the prices there. Sometimes if you have a problem, it might help to look at it with a fresh eye. But first of all be a kind person and never give anyone the evil eye. | keep your eyes open/peeled – to look or watch closely in order to see or find sth cast/run your eye over sth – to read or look at sth quickly run your eye down – to quickly read or look at sth, such as a list with a fresh eye – in a new way the evil eye – a look that is thought to be able to harm sb |
| But it’s not all about the way you look at something. What also matters is where you look or where you direct your eyes. Some people like it when all eyes are on them. Do you like it too when someone fixes their eyes on you? It’s not always a comfortable situation. But sometimes there may be something really interesting and you get excited about it the moment your eyes fall on it. Or, you may be looking at something else and then you see something strange moving out of the corner of your eye. On the other hand you may see something you don’t like and hope never to lay eyes on again. Also when you speak with someone and the conversation isn’t going in the right direction, you may want to avoid eye contact. Your eyes fall and your interlocutor notices something is wrong. Now it’s too late to run away and all you can do is drop your eyes. Probably you wish you had noticed that person earlier. Then you would probably have averted your eyes and pretended you didn’t see them. Or maybe you wish you could fly and have a bird’s-eye view of your city? Then it would be difficult to take your eyes off the beautiful buildings and parks. | all eyes are on sb – used to say that everyone is looking at sb fix one’s eyes on sth – keep looking or staring on sth one’s eyes fall on sth – used to say sb notices sth out of the corner of your eye – to the side of where you are looking lay/set eyes on sth – to see or look at sth eye contact – a situation in which two people are looking directly into each other’s eyes eyes fall – used to say when you look down drop one’s eyes – to look down avert one’s eyes – to look away bird’s-eye – seen from high above take your eyes off sth – to stop looking at sth |
| We also use eyes not just to look at something, but to watch something more carefully. Something or someone. Do you sometimes have your eye on your sister’s kids? Then you should keep an eagle eye on them, especially if they’re still little. Or maybe someone asked you to keep an eye on their suitcase? Some people don’t like being watched, especially when they work. Do you like to work under the watchful eye of your boss? I doubt it. But sometimes it’s hard to watch something, especially if it’s not so obvious or visible, even if you’re an eagle-eyed person. Sometimes you just close your eyes to something even if it’s right before your eyes. Are you comfortable being in the public eye? Then you catch everybody’s eye. But what you say may open someone’s eyes, unless you’re dishonest and pull the wool over people’s eyes. Maybe you’re keeping your eye out for a good car? It should be cheap too? Open your eyes, good cars are never cheap. If I saw one, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I have an open-eyed look at life. Naturally, there’s more to life than meets the eye, so maybe a good car may be cheap as well. Life can be a real eye-opener. Maybe you have the ability to see more than others. Being a sharp-eyed person is a good thing, especially if you can help someone. Be helpful in general. If something wrong is going on, don’t turn a blind eye to it. There are some idioms with EYE that are related to thinking or imagining. If you’ve had your eye on a house and then you hear it’s for sale, you’re probably very happy about it. Maybe you even have an eye to purchasing all the houses on that street with an eye toward bringing your whole family together. Maybe you can still see your happy childhood in your mind’s eye. But you need a clear-eyed assessment of the situation. You really need to keep your eye on the ball if you don’t want anyone to be faster. | have your eye on sth – to watch sth closely eagle eye – close watch keep an/your eye on sth – to watch or take care of sth under the (watchful/vigilant) eye of sb – while being watched by sb eagle-eyed – having a good ability to see or notice things close/shut your eyes to sth – to refuse to notice or accept the truth or existence of sth, to ignore sth before your eyes / in front of your eyes – happening in a very open and visible way so that you can see it very clearly in the public eye – in a position that receives a lot of public notice and attention catch sb’s eye – to be noticed open sb’s eyes – to cause sb to notice or be aware of sth important pull the wool over sb’s eyes – to trick or deceive sb, to hide the truth from sb have/keep your eye out for – to be looking for sth, to hope to see or find sth open one’s eyes – to begin to notice or be aware of sth important can’t believe your eyes/ears – used if you are very surprised at or upset by what you are seeing or hearing open-eyed – dealing with, showing, or understanding sth in a clear and honest way more (to sth) than meets the eye – used if there is more to sth than there appears to be at first eye-opener – sth that shows or teaches you sth in a surprising way sharp-eyed – having a strong ability to notice things turn a blind eye – to ignore a problem instead of dealing with it have your eye on sth – to be thinking about buying sth have an eye to/toward sth – to have sth in your thoughts as a goal or purpose with an eye toward – with sth in your thoughts as a goal or purpose see sth in your mind’s eye – to imagine or remember how sth looks clear-eyed – having or showing an ability to think clearly keep your eye on the ball – to continue thinking about or giving attention to sth important that you want to do or achieve |
| Do you have a keen eye for detail? If so, describing things and people should be important to you. Let’s talk about physical appearance. What do you feast your eyes on? Eye-catching images? Beautiful nature? Is there anything you always talk about with a twinkle in your eye? Maybe your garden is a feast for the eyes. What about yourself? Do you think you’re easy on the eye? What about your house? I hope it’s not an eyesore. Maybe you even have a blog about your house on your website. If so, is it mostly valuable stuff or rather just eye candy? | have an eye for sth or have a good/keen/sharp eye for sth – have a special ability to recognize a particular thing or quality feast your eyes on sth – to look at sth with great pleasure eye-catching – very noticeable because of being unusual or attractive a twinkle in your eye – a friendly or happy expression in your eyes a feast for the eyes – sth beautiful easy on the eye(s) – easy or pleasant to look at eyesore – an ugly object or building eye candy – sb or sth that is attractive but is not serious or interesting |
| What about feelings and emotions? They can be positive or negative. Do you have a rather cold-eyed approach to life or do you often get dewy-eyed? Do you have realistic hopes and expectations or are you rather starry-eyed about your future? Many young people have stars in their eyes when they graduate from school and start their adult life. Later in their life they often get more hard-eyed and whatever is going on around them, they’ll never bat an eye. All of them? In a pig’s eye! Some remain emotional forever. Others are wild-eyed criminals and it’s best to get out of their way. | cold-eyed – not affected by emotions dewy-eyed – showing too much emotion starry-eyed – having hopes and desires that are not realistic or practical have stars in your eyes – to be very hopeful and excited about sth and think that it will be much better or more enjoyable than it actually is hard-eyed – looking at things in a very critical way without emotion not bat an eye/eyelash – to show no surprise, fear, concern, etc. in a pig’s eye – used to express strong disagreement wild-eyed – having a wild expression in the eyes, looking dangerous or out of control |
| So, we have emotional women and unemotional men. A hard-and-fast rule, my eye! Both women and men can be emotional or not. And what about jealousy? If you only have eyes for a person who’s going out with someone else, aren’t you bitten by the green-eyed monster? But eyes are not just for seeing. They’re also for crying. If something bad happens, do you usually get teary-eyed or do you rather try to remain dry-eyed? | my eye – used to express surprise or mild disagreement only have eyes for – to only be attracted to sb, to only feel love for sb the green-eyed monster – jealousy thought of as a monster that bites or attacks people teary-eyed – having eyes that are wet with tears dry-eyed – not crying |
| Do you bawl your eyes out if you watch a movie without a happy end? In what other situations do you cry your eyes out? Or when you think about your childhood… do you sometimes get misty-eyed? | bawl your eyes out – to cry loudly especially for a long time cry your eyes/heart out – to cry a lot misty-eyed – having tears in your eyes, dreamy or sentimental |
| There are also idioms with EYE that refer to speed and distance. So, would you like to master English in the blink of an eye? Who wouldn’t? Unfortunately it takes years. But you can cover almost any distance by air in the twinkle of an eye. For example, if you ever flew to the USA over the Atlantic Ocean. Did you like the water that stretched away as far as the eye could see? And the land couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. And there are many, many more idioms with EYE. Let’s have a look at some more. If you’re up to your eyes in work and feel tired, you’d better get a shut-eye. If you don’t sleep enough, your work won’t be efficient and you may make mistakes, which can give you a black eye. But maybe we don’t see eye to eye on this issue. Even if your task is easy and you think you could do it with your eyes shut, you still need a rest from time to time. And also don’t forget to eat, but don’t take too much only to later find out that your eyes were bigger than your stomach. Or are you new to your job, full of wide-eyed innocence? Your boss asks you to do something and you stare at him, wide-eyed in astonishment. What does he want? Did I go into the job with my eyes open? – You’re asking yourself. You wish your little daughter was here to comfort you now. She’s the apple of your eye. She would definitely be a sight for sore eyes. Maybe your boss has something for you, something for your eyes only. Are you a nice person? Do you forgive people or do you rather believe in an eye for an eye? | in the blink of an eye – very quickly in the twinkle/twinkling of an eye – in a very short time, very quickly as far as the eye could see – as far as could be seen with the naked eye – without the use of a telescope, microscope, etc. up to your eyes/ears – deeply involved in or affected by sth shut-eye – sleep black eye – a bad opinion see eye to eye – to have the same opinion, to agree — usually used in negative statements with your eyes shut/closed – with little or no effort, very easily your eyes were bigger than your stomach – used to say that you have taken more food than you can possibly eat wide-eyed – having or showing a lack of experience or knowledge or having your eyes wide open especially because of surprise or fear with your/both eyes open – fully aware of what could happen the apple of your eye – a person or thing that sb loves very much a sight for sore eyes – a person or thing that you are very glad to see for your eyes only – intended to be seen only by you an eye for an eye or an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth – used to say that a person who has committed a crime should be given punishment that is the same as or as serious as the crime |