eyeball
Americannoun
-
eyeballs
plural
-
the ball or globe of the eye.
-
Informal. eyeballs, people who view or read something.
Old TV shows are getting a lot of eyeballs online.
verb (used with object)
idioms
noun
-
the entire ball-shaped part of the eye
-
in close confrontation
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of eyeball
1580–90; 1900–05 eyeball for def. 3; eye + ball 1
Explanation
Your eyeball is the round, ball-shaped part of your eye. When you go to an eye doctor, she will take a close look at your eyeballs. Every vertebrate — or animal with a spine — has eyeballs that sit within an eye socket. Your eyeballs are your organs of sight, making it possible for you to see light and color and to focus on the things you're looking at, sending all of these messages to your brain. You can also use the word eyeball, informally, as a verb: "Why do you always eyeball me when I walk by? Is it my strange hat?"
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Evolutionarily speaking, you don't keep the organ that you don't need. After watching many videos, I realized this animal is moving its eyeball toward the light."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
The trick is so subtle it can “pass the human eyeball test,” said Ben Bernstein, a cybersecurity expert at Huntress Labs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
On Wednesday morning, I walked into Channel 4's offices in central London and took a seat in a room eyeball to eyeball with its boss.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
He had seen documentaries in which robotic animals with eyeball cameras captured footage of natural habitats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026
“Ever since the exploding eyeball I can do no wrong. Right now I’m head-to-toe saliva.”
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
So far, the vision-correction experiments have been performed on isolated rabbit eyeballs rather than living animals.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
That era of network television was heavily driven by the quest for eyeballs and ratings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The last 20 years, Marx said, have been one big “lowest-common-denominator fight for attention,” meaning it was easier than ever to remain a public figure and make money off the resulting eyeballs.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
More countries taking part and more matches means more eyeballs on the action - as well as more opportunities to make money.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
The baby gazed as he walked, studying his protruding eyeballs, his conical ears, his thick lips on wide jaws.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
