eyeball

Etymology

From eye + ball. Compare Middle English balle off the eye, balle of þe eyȝe (“eyeball”, literally “ball of the eye”).

noun

1. The ball of the eye.
2. A person's focus of attention.
3. (informal) Surveillance.
   Intelligence work is necessarily limited in scope by the capacity of national surveillance systems. […] Ultimately, it is only when you have an 'eyeball' or the electronic equivalent on a suspect that you have a reasonable chance of a preventive intervention. 2016, Marie Breen-Smyth, The Ashgate Research Companion to Political Violence, page 384
4. (marketing, in the plural) A readership or viewership.
   We need compelling content for the new Web site so we can attract more eyeballs.
   When The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debuted at the same time as House of the Dragon, much noise was made about which show attracted more eyeballs. 2022-10-17, Stuart Heritage, “Now it’s over, let’s come out and say it: The Rings of Power was a stinker”, in The Guardian
5. (CB radio, slang) A face-to-face meeting.
   We had an eyeball last year.
6. (Caribbean) A favourite or pet; the apple of someone's eye.

verb

1. (transitive, informal) To gauge, estimate or judge by eye, rather than measuring precisely; to look or glance at.
   A good cook can often just eyeball the correct quantities of ingredients.
   Each geometric construction must be exact; eyeballing it and getting close does not count.
2. (transitive, informal) To stare at intently.
   Are you eyeballing my girl?
3. (intransitive) To roll one's eyes.
   Guardiola strode on to the pitch at half-time to remonstrate with the Spanish referee, Antonio Mateu Lahoz, but went too far with his eyeballing and matador-like hand movements. He was “upstairs”, in the Colin Bell stand, to watch Liverpool’s second-half turnaround and a dismal seven days for City take another turn for the worse. 10 April 2018, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in The Guardian (London)