lay eyes on

Idioms  

1. Also,. Look at, see, as in As soon as I laid eyes on him I knew he would be perfect for the lead in our play, or I'd never set eyes on such a beautiful gown. The first term dates from the early 1200s and the third from the late 1300s; the second, using clap in the sense of “a sudden movement,” dates from the first half of the 1800s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lay eyes on

To the droves of Portuguese fans who packed NRG Stadium just to lay eyes on him, Ronaldo had never left.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

Once they lay eyes on me, to know me is to love me.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026

Strong words from someone I had never met and would more than likely never lay eyes on again.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2024

It was there, on the outskirts of Jordan, Montana, that Brown became the first human to lay eyes on the monstrous form of the T. rex.

From Slate ● Jul. 4, 2022

His name was Jay Gatsby and I didn't lay eyes on him again for over four years--even after I'd met him on Long Island I didn't realize it was the same man.

From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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