Definition of eye
1 a
: a specialized light-sensitive sensory structure of animals that in nearly all vertebrates, most arthropods, and some mollusks is the image-forming organ of sight;
especially
: the nearly spherical usually paired hollow organ of sight in vertebrates that is filled with a jellylike material, is lined with a photosensitive retina, and is lodged in a bony orbit in the skull
b
: all the visible structures within and surrounding the orbit and including eyelids, eyelashes, and eyebrows
c (1)
: the faculty of seeing with eyes
(2)
: the faculty of intellectual or aesthetic perception or appreciation
- an eye for beauty
(3)
: skill or ability dependent upon eyesight
- a batter with a good eye
f
: point of view, judgment
- beauty is in the eye of the beholder
- an offender in the eyes of the law
2
: something having an appearance suggestive of an eye: such as
a
: the hole through the head of a needle
b
: a usually circular marking (as on a peacock's tail)
c
: loop;
especially
: a loop or catch to receive a hook
d
: an undeveloped bud (as on a potato)
e
: an area like a hole in the center of a tropical cyclone marked by only light winds or complete calm with no precipitation
f
: the center of a flower especially when differently colored or marked;
specifically
: the disk of a composite
g (1)
: a triangular piece of beef cut from between the top and bottom of a round
(2)
: the chief muscle of a chop
(3)
: a compact mass of muscular tissue usually embedded in fat in a rib or loin cut of meat
h
: a device (such as a photoelectric cell) that functions in a manner analogous to human vision
3
: something central : center
- the eye of the problem
- —Norman Mailer
4
: the direction from which the wind is blowing
—
an eye for an eye
: retribution in kind
—
my eye
—used to express mild disagreement or sometimes surprise
- a diamond, my eye! That's glass
—
with an eye to
or less commonly
with an eye toward
1
: with awareness or contemplation of
- with an eye to the future
2
: with the object of
- built the house with an eye to adding on later
