eagle eye

noun

1. unusually sharp visual powers; keen ability to watch or observe.

2. a person who has sharp vision or who maintains a keen watchfulness.

3. alert watchfulness.

Word History and Origins

Origin of eagle eye¹

First recorded in 1595–1605

Idioms and Phrases

Unusually keen sight; also, keen intellectual vision. For example, Antiques dealers have an eagle eye for valuable objects, or A good manager has an eagle eye for employee errors. [Late 1500s]

Example Sentences

She has an eagle eye for clothing with “100% cotton” on the tag or sterling silver jewelry stamped with a tiny “925,” indicating the quality of material.

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Conan Doyle: creator of Sherlock Holmes and by extension all subsequent super sleuths with an eccentric character, eagle eye for detail, encyclopedic knowledge of unexpectedly useful trivia and the brain of a UNIVAC.

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This has been around at least since the 1960s, when former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist was involved in “Operation Eagle Eye,” a Republican voter suppression operation in Arizona.

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I have dozens of friendship bracelets, a comfortable pair of sneakers and my eagle eye.

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But Spuck, a former director of the Zurich Ballet, retained his trademark calm and courtesy in the rehearsal two weeks ago, as he kept an eagle eye on the dancers and gave directions to rehearsal assistants, stage technicians and musicians.

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