(~s, ~ing, or eying, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
Your ~s are the parts of your body with which you see.
I opened my ~s and looked...
Maria’s ~s filled with tears.
...a tall, thin white-haired lady with piercing dark brown ~s...
He is now blind in one ~.
N-COUNT: oft poss N in pl
2.
If you ~ someone or something in a particular way, you look at them carefully in that way.
Sally ~d Claire with interest...
Martin ~d the bottle at Marianne’s elbow.
VERB: V n prep/adv, V n
3.
You use ~ 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 ~ for quality...
Their chief negotiator turned his critical ~ on the United States...
He first learnt to fish under the watchful ~ of his grandmother.
N-COUNT: usu sing, with supp, oft a N for n
4.
An ~ on a potato is one of the dark spots from which new stems grow.
N-COUNT
5.
An ~ is a small metal loop which a hook fits into, as a fastening on a piece of clothing.
N-COUNT
6.
The ~ of a needle is the small hole at one end which the thread passes through.
N-COUNT
7.
The ~ of a storm, tornado, or hurricane is the centre of it.
The ~ of the hurricane hit Florida just south of Miami.
N-SING: the N of n
8.
see also black ~ , private ~ , shut-~
9.
If you say that something happens before your ~s, in front of your ~s, or under your ~s, 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 ~s...
PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR emphasis
10.
If you cast your ~ or run your ~ over something, you look at it or read it quickly.
I would be grateful if he could cast an expert ~ over it and tell me what he thought of it...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR prep
11.
If something catches your ~, you suddenly notice it.
As she turned back, a movement across the lawn caught her ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
see also ~-catching
12.
If you catch someone’s ~, you do something to attract their attention, so that you can speak to them.
I tried to catch Chrissie’s ~ to find out what she was playing at.
PHRASE: V inflects
13.
To clap ~s on someone or something, or set or lay ~s on them, means to see them. (INFORMAL)
That’s probably the most bare and bleak island I’ve ever had the misfortune to clap ~s on...
What was he doing when you last set ~s on him?
PHRASE: V inflects, oft after superl, oft with brd-neg
14.
If you make ~ 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 ~ 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 ~ contact several times...
I spent a fruitless ten minutes walking up and down the high street, desperately avoiding ~ contact with passers-by.
PHRASE: PHR after v
15.
If you close your ~s to something bad or if you shut your ~s to it, you ignore it.
Most governments must simply be shutting their ~s to the problem.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
16.
If you cry your ~s out, you cry very hard. (INFORMAL)
PHRASE: V inflects
17.
If there is something as far as the ~ can see, there is a lot of it and you cannot see anything else beyond it.
There are pine trees as far as the ~ can see.
PHRASE
18.
If you say that someone has an ~ for something, you mean that they are good at noticing it or making judgments about it.
Susan has a keen ~ for detail, so each dress is beautifully finished off.
PHRASE: V inflects
19.
You use expressions such as in his ~s or to her ~s to indicate that you are reporting someone’s opinion and that other people might think differently.
The other serious problem in the ~s of the new government is communalism...
Richard Dorrington was, in their ~s, a very sensible and reliable man...
PHRASE: PHR with cl-group
20.
If you keep your ~s open or keep an ~ out for someone or something, you watch for them carefully. (INFORMAL)
I ask the mounted patrol to keep their ~s open...
You and your friends keep an ~ 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 ~ 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 ~ on all our running costs...
I went for a run there, keeping an ~ on the children the whole time...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
22.
You say ‘there’s more to this than meets the ~’ 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 ~.
PHRASE
23.
If something, especially something surprising or impressive, meets your ~s, you see it.
The first sight that met my ~s on reaching the front door was the church enveloped in flames.
PHRASE: V inflects
24.
If you say that all ~s are on something or that the ~s of the world are on something, you mean that everyone is paying careful attention to it and what will happen. (JOURNALISM)
All ~s will be on tomorrow’s vote...
The ~s of the world were now on the police.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
25.
If someone has their ~ 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 ~ on her.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
26.
If you have your ~ on something, you want to have it. (INFORMAL)
...if you’re saving up for a new outfit you’ve had your ~ on.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
27.
If you say that you did something with your ~s open or with your ~s 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 ~s open.
PHRASE: PHR after v
28.
If something opens your ~s, 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 ~s to delights long forgotten.
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to n
29.
If you see ~ to ~ with someone, you agree with them and have the same opinions and views.
Yuriko saw ~ to ~ with Yul on almost every aspect of the production...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with n, pl-n PHR
30.
When you take your ~s off the thing you have been watching or looking at, you stop looking at it.
She took her ~s off the road to glance at me...
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
31.
If someone sees or considers something through your ~s, they consider it in the way that you do, from your point of view.
She tried to see things through his ~s...
PHRASE: PHR after v
32.
If you say that you are up to your ~s 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 ~s in work...
PHRASE: v-link PHR, usu PHR in n emphasis
33.
the apple of your ~: see apple
to turn a blind ~: see blind
to feast your ~s: see feast
in your mind’s ~: see mind
the naked ~: see naked
to pull the wool over someone’s ~s: see wool