Eyeball Is a Noun, a Verb and a Unit of Attention
The eyeball is the globe of the eye. As a verb it means to judge by eye, and in advertising it became a way of counting people.
The eyeball is the round body of the eye itself, without the lids and lashes. English also turned it into a verb — to eyeball a measurement is to estimate it without instruments — and advertisers turned it into a count, selling *eyeballs* instead of readers.
- The globe of the eye. *The eyeball moves in its socket.*
- To look at closely (informal). *He eyeballed the queue.*
- To estimate by eye. *Just eyeball the amount.*
- Eyeballs — viewers, in advertising talk. *Chasing eyeballs.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | eyeball | A painful eyeball. |
| Plural | eyeballs | Both eyeballs. |
| Verb | eyeball | Eyeball the gap. |
| Phrase | eyeball to eyeball | Standing eyeball to eyeball. |
| Phrase | up to the eyeballs | Up to my eyeballs in work. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Do not touch your eyeball with the lens.The anatomical sense.
- I eyeballed it rather than measuring.Informal but widely understood.
- She is up to her eyeballs in paperwork.Meaning completely overwhelmed.
Parts of the eye
- Cornea — the clear dome at the front
- Iris — the coloured ring that opens and closes
- Pupil — the hole in the middle of the iris
- Lens — focuses light onto the back
- Retina — the light-sensitive layer at the back
A plain compound of *eye* and *ball*, recorded from the sixteenth century. *Eye* is one of the oldest words in English, with relatives across the Germanic languages and beyond.
Is eyeball a medical term?
Doctors more often say globe or ocular globe. Eyeball is standard in everyday speech.
What does *eyeball to eyeball* mean?
Facing each other at very close range, usually in a confrontation neither side will back down from.