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Synonyms

eyeball

American  
[ahy-bawl] / ˈaɪˌbɔl /

noun

  1. the ball or globe of the eye.

  2. Informal. eyeballs, people who view or read something.

    Old TV shows are getting a lot of eyeballs online.

verb (used with object)

  1. Informal. to look at, check, or observe closely.

    two opponents eyeballing each other.

idioms

  1. give (someone) the hairy eyeball, to look at (someone) with eyelids partly lowered, as in hostility or distrust.

eyeball British  
/ ˈaɪˌbɔːl /

noun

  1. the entire ball-shaped part of the eye

  2. in close confrontation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. slang (tr) to stare at

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • eyeballer noun

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?"

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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.

The combined eyeball voltage of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone is so powerful that it’s turned silly scripts into hits.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 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

An eyeball scan is required to enter, and no photographs are permitted.

From Barron's • Dec. 10, 2025

Start with its resemblance to an eye that’s been knocked out of a skull — identical to a human eyeball, until it displays a carousel of irises.

From Salon • Sep. 18, 2025

She calls it our eyeball journal because Ralph Waldo Emerson—the person our school is named for—once said he wanted to be an eyeball.

From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée

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.