googly eye

English

A pair of googly eyes for handicrafts

A cat with googly eyes (strabismus)

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪ

Noun

googly eye (plural googly eyes)

1. Craft supplies typically made of white, black, and clear plastic that resemble eyes.
   • 2011, Jenny Dodd, Party Party‎^[1]:

     11. Twist the pipe cleaners around a wooden spoon to curl; add a googly eye to the end of each, securing with a small blob of Prestik^®.

2. (informal) Strabismus, a condition in which the two eyes do not align in the same direction; tropia, a squint.
   • 2006, Gardiner M. Weir, Music on the Wind‎^[2]:

     “What kind of a fellah?”
     “A fellah with a googly eye and a corduroi staff in his hand.” Clutching a box of darts Basil climbed drunkenly to his feet. He closed a lazy eye for the benefit of Sally in the kitchen and poised a dart.

   • 2016 January 21, Christian Cotroneo, “Cats With Googly Eyes Are Real, And They're Beautiful”, in The Dodo‎^[3]:

     "What some may refer to as 'cross-eyed' or 'googly eyes' is a medical condition called strabismus," Christy Michael, lead veterinarian at DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital, tells The Dodo.

3. Eyes that bulge abnormally.

Verb

googly eye (third-person singular simple present googly eyes, present participle googly eyeing, simple past and past participle googly eyed)

1. (informal, transitive) To observe intently; to stare (at something).

   Synonyms: eye, eyeball

   • 2007 March 18, Jeff Brumley, “Suspects kept to themselves, except the son”, in Florida Times Union, Jacksonville, page A1:

     “I know the boy was weird,” Horseshoe Lane resident Leland Ferguson said. “He’d come up to the school bus stop and googly-eye the children.”

   • 2019, Lillian White, Barbie Band-Aid, page 39:

     But nonetheless, I was always doing something, from reviewing protocols, reviewing potential injuries I could face that day, watching a movie, cleaning the MTC, googly eyeing the cute boys, always something I kept myself busy with!

Further reading

• Googly eyes on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Strabismus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia