"turn a blind eye" meaning in English

See turn a blind eye in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /ˈtɜːn‿ə ˌblaɪnd ˈaɪ/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈtɜɹn‿ə ˌblaɪnd ˈaɪ/ [General-American] Audio: En-au-turn a blind eye.ogg [Australia] Forms: turns a blind eye [present, singular, third-person], turning a blind eye [participle, present], turned a blind eye [participle, past], turned a blind eye [past]
Rhymes: -aɪ Etymology: Probably from the idea of a person turning to look at something but not seeing it, as if their eyes are blind. The term is frequently claimed to originate from an incident during the First Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, when Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) was ordered by Admiral Hyde Parker (1739–1807) through signal flags to discontinue naval action against a force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy. Nelson, who had been blinded in one eye early in his career, said to his flag captain Thomas Foley (1757–1833), “You know, Foley, I have only one eye—I have a right to be blind sometimes.” He then put his telescope to his blind eye and, remarking “I really do not see the signal,” continued the assault which ended in a British victory. However, this is not the source of the term as the Oxford English Dictionary records uses dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. Etymology templates: {{root|en|ine-pro|*terh₁-|*bʰlendʰ-|*h₃ekʷ-}}, {{sup|1}} ¹ Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} turn a blind eye (third-person singular simple present turns a blind eye, present participle turning a blind eye, simple past and past participle turned a blind eye)
  1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something, especially when improper or unpleasant; to look the other way. Wikipedia link: Oxford English Dictionary, Thames & Hudson, Tom Pocock Tags: idiomatic, intransitive Synonyms: close one's eyes, connive, shut one's eyes, wink Related terms: close one's eyes, shut one's eyes, there are none so blind as those who will not see, willful blindness, willful ignorance Translations (to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something): fer els ulls grossos (Catalan), 隻眼開隻眼閉 (Chinese Cantonese), 只眼开只眼闭 (zek³ ngaan⁵ hoi¹ zek³ ngaan⁵ bai³) (Chinese Cantonese), 視而不見 (Chinese Mandarin), 视而不见 (shì'érbùjiàn) (Chinese Mandarin), 漠然置之 (mòránzhìzhī) (Chinese Mandarin), 睜一隻眼閉一隻眼 (Chinese Mandarin), 睁一只眼闭一只眼 (zhēng yī zhī yǎn bì yī zhī yǎn) (Chinese Mandarin), přimhouřit oko (Czech), door de vingers zien (Dutch), katsoa läpi sormien (Finnish), katsoa vierestä (Finnish), seurata katseella (Finnish), fermer les yeux (French), die Augen verschließen vor (German), ein Auge zudrücken (German), wegschauen (German), wegsehen (German), הֶעֱלִים עַיִן (he'lím 'áyin) (Hebrew), szemet huny (Hungarian), sjá í gegnum fingur við (Icelandic), chiudere un occhio (Italian), 見て見ぬふりをする (miteminufuri o suru) (alt: みてみぬふりをする) (Japanese), 무시하다 (musihada) (Korean), 모르는 척 하다 (moreuneun cheok hada) (Korean), patrzeć przez palce [imperfective] (Polish), przymykać oko [imperfective] (Polish), przymknąć oko [perfective] (Polish), fazer vista grossa (Portuguese), închide ochii (la ceva) (Romanian), se face că nu vede (Romanian), se face că plouă (Romanian), закрыва́ть глаза́ (zakryvátʹ glazá) (alt: на что-либо) (Russian), progledati kroz prste [idiomatic] (Serbo-Croatian), zažmiriti (na nešto) (Serbo-Croatian), hacer la vista gorda (Spanish), hacerse de la vista gorda (Spanish), blunda för (Swedish), se genom fingrarna (Swedish), se mellan fingrarna (Swedish), เอาหูไปนา เอาตาไปไร่ (ao-hǔu-bpai-naa ao-dtaa-bpai-râi) (Thai), диви́тись крізь па́льці (dyvýtysʹ krizʹ pálʹci) (Ukrainian), закри́ти о́чі (zakrýty óči) (Ukrainian), заплю́щити о́чі (zapljúščyty óči) (Ukrainian)

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for turn a blind eye meaning in English (13.0kB)

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  "etymology_text": "Probably from the idea of a person turning to look at something but not seeing it, as if their eyes are blind.\nThe term is frequently claimed to originate from an incident during the First Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, when Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) was ordered by Admiral Hyde Parker (1739–1807) through signal flags to discontinue naval action against a force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy. Nelson, who had been blinded in one eye early in his career, said to his flag captain Thomas Foley (1757–1833), “You know, Foley, I have only one eye—I have a right to be blind sometimes.” He then put his telescope to his blind eye and, remarking “I really do not see the signal,” continued the assault which ended in a British victory. However, this is not the source of the term as the Oxford English Dictionary records uses dating to the 17th and 18th centuries.",
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      "form": "turning a blind eye",
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      "form": "turned a blind eye",
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      "form": "turned a blind eye",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
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          "text": "The mother turned a blind eye to her son’s mischief as she expected him not to repeat it.",
          "type": "example"
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        {
          "ref": "1698, John Norris, “A Discourse of Walking by Faith. In Two Parts.”, in Practical Discourses upon Several Divine Subjects, […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Manship […], and J. Jones […], →OCLC, part I, pages 222–223",
          "text": "The great Advantage of thus vvalking by Faith is, that it vvill help us […] to turn the deaf Ear, and the blind Eye to all thoſe Pomps and Vanities of the VVorld vvhich vve renounc'd at our Baptiſm, and to have it no longer in our Hearts, but under our Feet.\nThis is the earliest occurrence of the term recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1823 October 1 (date written), Martha Wilmot, More Letters from Martha Wilmot: Impressions of Vienna, 1819–1829, […], London: Macmillan and Co., published 1935, →OCLC, page 197",
          "text": "[…] I must say that for some reasons we wanted such a person very much, and find her very useful, so I turn a blind eye and a deaf ear every now and then, and we get on marvellously well.",
          "type": "quotation"
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      "glosses": [
        "To deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something, especially when improper or unpleasant; to look the other way."
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      "links": [
        [
          "deliberately",
          "deliberately"
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        [
          "knowingly",
          "knowingly"
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          "ignore",
          "ignore"
        ],
        [
          "overlook",
          "overlook#Verb"
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        [
          "refuse",
          "refuse#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "acknowledge",
          "acknowledge"
        ],
        [
          "improper",
          "improper#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "unpleasant",
          "unpleasant"
        ],
        [
          "look the other way",
          "look the other way"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic) To deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something, especially when improper or unpleasant; to look the other way."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "close one's eyes"
        },
        {
          "word": "shut one's eyes"
        },
        {
          "word": "there are none so blind as those who will not see"
        },
        {
          "word": "willful blindness"
        },
        {
          "word": "willful ignorance"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "close one's eyes"
        },
        {
          "word": "connive"
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        {
          "word": "shut one's eyes"
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        {
          "word": "wink"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "fer els ulls grossos"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "視而不見"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "shì'érbùjiàn",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "视而不见"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "mòránzhìzhī",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "漠然置之"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "睜一隻眼閉一隻眼"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "zhēng yī zhī yǎn bì yī zhī yǎn",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "睁一只眼闭一只眼"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "隻眼開隻眼閉"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "zek³ ngaan⁵ hoi¹ zek³ ngaan⁵ bai³",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "只眼开只眼闭"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "přimhouřit oko"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "door de vingers zien"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "katsoa läpi sormien"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "katsoa vierestä"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "seurata katseella"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "fermer les yeux"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "die Augen verschließen vor"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "ein Auge zudrücken"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "wegschauen"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "wegsehen"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "he'lím 'áyin",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "הֶעֱלִים עַיִן"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "szemet huny"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "sjá í gegnum fingur við"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "chiudere un occhio"
        },
        {
          "alt": "みてみぬふりをする",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "miteminufuri o suru",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "見て見ぬふりをする"
        },
        {
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "musihada",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "무시하다"
        },
        {
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "moreuneun cheok hada",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "모르는 척 하다"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "patrzeć przez palce"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "przymykać oko"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "przymknąć oko"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "fazer vista grossa"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "închide ochii (la ceva)"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "se face că nu vede"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "se face că plouă"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "смотре́ть сквозь па́льцы (smotrétʹ skvozʹ pálʹcy, literally “watch through fingers”)",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something"
        },
        {
          "alt": "на что-либо",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "zakryvátʹ glazá",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "закрыва́ть глаза́"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "progledati kroz prste"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "zažmiriti (na nešto)"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "hacer la vista gorda"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "hacerse de la vista gorda"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "blunda för"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "se genom fingrarna"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "se mellan fingrarna"
        },
        {
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "roman": "ao-hǔu-bpai-naa ao-dtaa-bpai-râi",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "เอาหูไปนา เอาตาไปไร่"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "dyvýtysʹ krizʹ pálʹci",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "диви́тись крізь па́льці"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "zakrýty óči",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "закри́ти о́чі"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "zapljúščyty óči",
          "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
          "word": "заплю́щити о́чі"
        }
      ],
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      "tags": [
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    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɜɹn‿ə ˌblaɪnd ˈaɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
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    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪ"
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      "audio": "En-au-turn a blind eye.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c2/En-au-turn_a_blind_eye.ogg/En-au-turn_a_blind_eye.ogg.mp3",
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      "tags": [
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
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  "word": "turn a blind eye"
}
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  "etymology_text": "Probably from the idea of a person turning to look at something but not seeing it, as if their eyes are blind.\nThe term is frequently claimed to originate from an incident during the First Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, when Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) was ordered by Admiral Hyde Parker (1739–1807) through signal flags to discontinue naval action against a force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy. Nelson, who had been blinded in one eye early in his career, said to his flag captain Thomas Foley (1757–1833), “You know, Foley, I have only one eye—I have a right to be blind sometimes.” He then put his telescope to his blind eye and, remarking “I really do not see the signal,” continued the assault which ended in a British victory. However, this is not the source of the term as the Oxford English Dictionary records uses dating to the 17th and 18th centuries.",
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      "form": "turned a blind eye",
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      "word": "close one's eyes"
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    {
      "word": "shut one's eyes"
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    {
      "word": "there are none so blind as those who will not see"
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      "word": "willful blindness"
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      "word": "willful ignorance"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The mother turned a blind eye to her son’s mischief as she expected him not to repeat it.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1698, John Norris, “A Discourse of Walking by Faith. In Two Parts.”, in Practical Discourses upon Several Divine Subjects, […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Manship […], and J. Jones […], →OCLC, part I, pages 222–223",
          "text": "The great Advantage of thus vvalking by Faith is, that it vvill help us […] to turn the deaf Ear, and the blind Eye to all thoſe Pomps and Vanities of the VVorld vvhich vve renounc'd at our Baptiſm, and to have it no longer in our Hearts, but under our Feet.\nThis is the earliest occurrence of the term recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1823 October 1 (date written), Martha Wilmot, More Letters from Martha Wilmot: Impressions of Vienna, 1819–1829, […], London: Macmillan and Co., published 1935, →OCLC, page 197",
          "text": "[…] I must say that for some reasons we wanted such a person very much, and find her very useful, so I turn a blind eye and a deaf ear every now and then, and we get on marvellously well.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something, especially when improper or unpleasant; to look the other way."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "deliberately",
          "deliberately"
        ],
        [
          "knowingly",
          "knowingly"
        ],
        [
          "ignore",
          "ignore"
        ],
        [
          "overlook",
          "overlook#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "refuse",
          "refuse#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "acknowledge",
          "acknowledge"
        ],
        [
          "improper",
          "improper#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "unpleasant",
          "unpleasant"
        ],
        [
          "look the other way",
          "look the other way"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive, idiomatic) To deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something, especially when improper or unpleasant; to look the other way."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "close one's eyes"
        },
        {
          "word": "connive"
        },
        {
          "word": "shut one's eyes"
        },
        {
          "word": "wink"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Oxford English Dictionary",
        "Thames & Hudson",
        "Tom Pocock"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɜːn‿ə ˌblaɪnd ˈaɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɜɹn‿ə ˌblaɪnd ˈaɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪ"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-turn a blind eye.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c2/En-au-turn_a_blind_eye.ogg/En-au-turn_a_blind_eye.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/En-au-turn_a_blind_eye.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "fer els ulls grossos"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "視而不見"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "shì'érbùjiàn",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "视而不见"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "mòránzhìzhī",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "漠然置之"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "睜一隻眼閉一隻眼"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "zhēng yī zhī yǎn bì yī zhī yǎn",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "睁一只眼闭一只眼"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "隻眼開隻眼閉"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "zek³ ngaan⁵ hoi¹ zek³ ngaan⁵ bai³",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "只眼开只眼闭"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "přimhouřit oko"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "door de vingers zien"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "katsoa läpi sormien"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "katsoa vierestä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "seurata katseella"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "fermer les yeux"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "die Augen verschließen vor"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "ein Auge zudrücken"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "wegschauen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "wegsehen"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "he'lím 'áyin",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "הֶעֱלִים עַיִן"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "szemet huny"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "sjá í gegnum fingur við"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "chiudere un occhio"
    },
    {
      "alt": "みてみぬふりをする",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "miteminufuri o suru",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "見て見ぬふりをする"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "musihada",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "무시하다"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "moreuneun cheok hada",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "모르는 척 하다"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "patrzeć przez palce"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "przymykać oko"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "przymknąć oko"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "fazer vista grossa"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "închide ochii (la ceva)"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "se face că nu vede"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "se face că plouă"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "смотре́ть сквозь па́льцы (smotrétʹ skvozʹ pálʹcy, literally “watch through fingers”)",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something"
    },
    {
      "alt": "на что-либо",
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zakryvátʹ glazá",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "закрыва́ть глаза́"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "word": "progledati kroz prste"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "zažmiriti (na nešto)"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "hacer la vista gorda"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "hacerse de la vista gorda"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "blunda för"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "se genom fingrarna"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "se mellan fingrarna"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "roman": "ao-hǔu-bpai-naa ao-dtaa-bpai-râi",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "เอาหูไปนา เอาตาไปไร่"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "dyvýtysʹ krizʹ pálʹci",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "диви́тись крізь па́льці"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "zakrýty óči",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "закри́ти о́чі"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "zapljúščyty óči",
      "sense": "to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something",
      "word": "заплю́щити о́чі"
    }
  ],
  "word": "turn a blind eye"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.