eyelid
Americannoun
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eyelids
plural
noun
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either of the two muscular folds of skin that can be moved to cover the exposed portion of the eyeball
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Also called: clamshell. aeronautics a set of movable parts at the rear of a jet engine that redirect the exhaust flow to assist braking during landing
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of eyelid
Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; see origin at eye, lid
Explanation
Your eyelid is the piece of skin that closes over your eyeball when you blink. The purpose of your eyelids is to protect your eye (and, of course, to be decorated with eye shadow). When you close your eyes to go to sleep, you're actually closing your eyelids — and they are making it easier for you to sleep by blocking any light from your eyes. Humans actually have upper and lower eyelids that keep dust, sweat, and other substances out of their eyes, and also spread moisture across the entire eye with each blink.
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:
“If you can avoid having your eyelid sewn shut, avoid it,” Mr. Rushdie says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
"With atypical absences that last longer, people may have automatic movements like fidgeting with their hands, eyelid fluttering and lip smacking. Some people may fall."
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
An operation to life the 48-year-old's eyelid after a minor stroke left her with huge swelling that covered her eye.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Adam Hamawy’s campaign headquarters is in a suburban New Jersey office center, down the hall from Princeton Plastic Surgeons, his practice that offers everything from eyelid surgery to Brazilian butt lifts.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
His left eyelid drooped over an empty socket.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Ray’s camera flits, with arresting rhythm, between the players; Aparna flits her eyelids as she names Cleopatra during the first round.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
He likens eyelids to "a pair of curtains".
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Jasmine Karipayeva, 27 from Kazakhstan, decided to have blepharoplasty -- surgery to remove skin from the eyelids -- after "coming across a video on TikTok", lured by low prices and pictures of professional-looking surgery.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Their long, heavy eyelids give them a look of drowsy calm; the adjective most often associated with them is “chill.”
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
He was looking at Pond, who had closed his eyelids and was forcing himself to breathe.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
