lay eyes on

present singular third person lays eyes on · participle present laying eyes on · participle past laid eyes on · past laid eyes on · alternative lay one's eyes on

1. idiomaticTo see; look at; glimpse.

   We can show the kids the tape and say, ‘Look, that's when we first laid eyes on each other.’

   2018 February 5, Samantha Masters, quoting Edie Brickell, “Paul Simon tour 2018: Who is the Simon & Garfunkel star’s wife?”, in Express.co.uk

   3 more examples

   Had he seen her once? He debated that a moment. No. The habits of long service years had made him note and remember people. He knew that if ever he had laid eyes on her lovely face, he would never have forgotten.

   1927, William Byron Mowery, Pirates Of The Muskeg

   I remember back in school / When I first laid my eyes on you / I saw your smile and knew right then and there

   1980, Teena Marie, “Young Love”, in Irons in the Fire

   Does she regard him simply as a workman come to do a job for her, someone whom she need never lay eyes on again; or is she gabbling to hide discomfiture?

   2013, J. M. Coetzee, chapter 16, in The Childhood of Jesus, Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company, page 144