eye up
To examine closely something coveted.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He keeps eyeing up the last piece of cake.”
“The customer spent ten minutes eyeing up the expensive watch before finally deciding to buy it.”
“As the auctioneer began the bidding, the collector stood in the back, silently eyeing up the rare painting he had traveled across the country to acquire.”
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an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
compensation for injury caused by a person, in the form of inflicting of an identical injury on that person.
- 02
apple of someone's eye
The object of somebody's affections; a person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers; a favorite, a loved one.
- 03
blink of an eye
A moment (a very short period of time).
- 04
camel through the eye of a needle
Hyperbole to illustrate something that is impossible to do or to make happen.
- 05
catch someone's eye
To capture someone's attention.
- 06
catch the eye
To attract the attention
- 07
close one eye
to look the other way, to deliberately ignore or overlook (a mistake or transgression).
- 08
dry eye
An eye which is not crying, i.e. someone emotionally unmoved.
Last updated August 10, 2026