have eyes on

verb

To observe.

First used c. 2000
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Meanings

verbhave eyes on (third-person singular simple present has eyes on, present participle having eyes on, simple past and past participle had eyes on)

present singular third person has eyes on · participle present having eyes on · participle past had eyes on · past had eyes on

  1. transitiveTo observe.First known use c. 2000
  2. transitiveTo have under observation through others.First known use c. 2000

    That's something CIA hasn't managed to do in five years.” “We've had eyes on him,” Carmichael countered.

    2013, Mark Greaney, Dead Eye
    1 more example

    “Jeremy, I thought you guys had eyes on this room. You didn't see this guy at the door?” “It seems someone has peeped our hold card and fed a continuous loop of the hall being empty through our equipment.[…]"

    2011, S. D. Arnold, Forever This Time, page 66
  3. transitiveTo have one's eye on.First known use c. 1980
Cite this entry
APA

have eyes on. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20eyes%20on

MLA

“have eyes on.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20eyes%20on. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “have eyes on,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20eyes%20on.

Source: have eyes on on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.