keep one's eyes peeled

verb

Etymology

US, 19th century. Peeled probably refers to keeping one's eyelids retracted.

Definitions

  1. To be on the alert, to be watchful.

    • 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!
    • lookouts posted to the port and starboard bows keep their eyes peeled for the ghostly outline of approaching traffic.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for keep one's eyes peeled. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA