"keep one's eyes peeled" meaning in English

See keep one's eyes peeled in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-keep one's eyes peeled.ogg [Australia] Forms: keeps one's eyes peeled [present, singular, third-person], keeping one's eyes peeled [participle, present], kept one's eyes peeled [participle, past], kept one's eyes peeled [past]
Etymology: US, 19th century. Peeled probably refers to keeping one's eyelids retracted. Etymology templates: {{m|en|peeled|Peeled}} Peeled Head templates: {{en-verb|keep<,,kept> one's eyes peeled}} keep one's eyes peeled (third-person singular simple present keeps one's eyes peeled, present participle keeping one's eyes peeled, simple past and past participle kept one's eyes peeled)
  1. (intransitive, idiomatic, (with "for")) To be on the alert, to be watchful. Tags: idiomatic, intransitive Synonyms (to be watchful): keep an eye out, keep one's eyes open Translations (to be watchful): pitää varansa (Finnish), pitää silmällä (Finnish), être attentif (French), être vigilant (French), être sur ses gardes (French), die Augen offen halten (German), tenere gli occhi ben aperti (Italian), mieć oczy dookoła głowy [imperfective] (Polish), mieć oczy szeroko otwarte [imperfective] (Polish), mieć się na baczności [imperfective] (Polish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for keep one's eyes peeled meaning in English (3.9kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "peeled",
        "3": "Peeled"
      },
      "expansion": "Peeled",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "US, 19th century. Peeled probably refers to keeping one's eyelids retracted.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "keeps one's eyes peeled",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "keeping one's eyes peeled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's eyes peeled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's eyes peeled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
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  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "keep<,,kept> one's eyes peeled"
      },
      "expansion": "keep one's eyes peeled (third-person singular simple present keeps one's eyes peeled, present participle keeping one's eyes peeled, simple past and past participle kept one's eyes peeled)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
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          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
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          "kind": "other",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1990, Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park",
          "text": "And directly below is our Mesozoic jungle river -- where, if you are lucky, you just may catch a glimpse of a very rare carnivore. Keep your eyes peeled, everyone!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 November 14, Laura Bly, “Sailing into the past”, in USA Today",
          "text": "lookouts posted to the port and starboard bows keep their eyes peeled for the ghostly outline of approaching traffic.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic, (with \"for\")) To be on the alert, to be watchful.",
        "To be on the alert, to be watchful."
      ],
      "id": "en-keep_one's_eyes_peeled-en-verb-IQJOuA~3",
      "links": [
        [
          "on the alert",
          "on the alert"
        ],
        [
          "watchful",
          "watchful"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "(with \"for\")",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic, (with \"for\")) To be on the alert, to be watchful."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "keep an eye out"
        },
        {
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "keep one's eyes open"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "pitää varansa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "pitää silmällä"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "être attentif"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "être vigilant"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "être sur ses gardes"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "die Augen offen halten"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "word": "tenere gli occhi ben aperti"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "mieć oczy dookoła głowy"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "mieć oczy szeroko otwarte"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to be watchful",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "mieć się na baczności"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-keep one's eyes peeled.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/dc/En-au-keep_one%27s_eyes_peeled.ogg/En-au-keep_one%27s_eyes_peeled.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/En-au-keep_one%27s_eyes_peeled.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "keep one's eyes peeled"
}
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        "2": "peeled",
        "3": "Peeled"
      },
      "expansion": "Peeled",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "US, 19th century. Peeled probably refers to keeping one's eyelids retracted.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "keeps one's eyes peeled",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "keeping one's eyes peeled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's eyes peeled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kept one's eyes peeled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "keep<,,kept> one's eyes peeled"
      },
      "expansion": "keep one's eyes peeled (third-person singular simple present keeps one's eyes peeled, present participle keeping one's eyes peeled, simple past and past participle kept one's eyes peeled)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
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        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
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        "English multiword terms",
        "English predicates",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1990, Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park",
          "text": "And directly below is our Mesozoic jungle river -- where, if you are lucky, you just may catch a glimpse of a very rare carnivore. Keep your eyes peeled, everyone!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 November 14, Laura Bly, “Sailing into the past”, in USA Today",
          "text": "lookouts posted to the port and starboard bows keep their eyes peeled for the ghostly outline of approaching traffic.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic, (with \"for\")) To be on the alert, to be watchful.",
        "To be on the alert, to be watchful."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "on the alert",
          "on the alert"
        ],
        [
          "watchful",
          "watchful"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "(with \"for\")",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic, (with \"for\")) To be on the alert, to be watchful."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-keep one's eyes peeled.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/dc/En-au-keep_one%27s_eyes_peeled.ogg/En-au-keep_one%27s_eyes_peeled.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/En-au-keep_one%27s_eyes_peeled.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "keep an eye out"
    },
    {
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "keep one's eyes open"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "pitää varansa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "pitää silmällä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "être attentif"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "être vigilant"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "être sur ses gardes"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "die Augen offen halten"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "word": "tenere gli occhi ben aperti"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "mieć oczy dookoła głowy"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "mieć oczy szeroko otwarte"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to be watchful",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "mieć się na baczności"
    }
  ],
  "word": "keep one's eyes peeled"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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