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
