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
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
Xie said that eyeball care treatments are common in China.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
It causes the eyeball to grow longer from front to back, making it harder to focus farther away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
When she’s gone, I eyeball the room, at how neat it all looks.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Their cloudy-looking eyes can appear almost lifeless, and parasites are often found attached directly to the eyeballs.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
For the owners to even contemplate repeating that experience, especially given the heightened competition in the modern world for sports fans’ attention and viewers’ eyeballs, can bespeak only insanity or stupidity, or probably both.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
“When the market is wholly convinced there is a real project, eyeballs start to turn towards the detail around delivery.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 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
She sighs again and rolls her eyes so slowly and dramatically that I wonder if her eyeballs are going to roll into the back of her head.
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
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.
