give someone the eye

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give someone the eye (third-person singular simple present gives someone the eye, present participle giving someone the eye, simple past gave someone the eye, past participle given someone the eye)

1. (idiomatic) To show flirtatious signs with one's eyes.

   I saw him giving me the eye as soon as I entered the room.

   • 1951, J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 90:

     She was sort of cute, the blonde one, and I started giving her the old eye a little bit, but just then the waiter came up for my order.