lay eyes on

English

Alternative forms

lay one's eyes on

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

lay eyes on (third-person singular simple present lays eyes on, present participle laying eyes on, simple past and past participle laid eyes on)

(idiomatic) To see; look at; glimpse.
- 1980, Teena Marie (lyrics and music), “Young Love”, in Irons in the Fire:
  I remember back in school / When I first laid my eyes on you / I saw your smile and knew right then and there
- 2013, J. M. Coetzee, The Childhood of Jesus. Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company. chapter 16. p. 144.
  Does she regard him simply as a workman come to do a job for her, someone whom she need never lay eyes on again; or is she gabbling to hide discomfiture?