Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for

eyeball-to-eyeball

[ahy-bawl-tuh-ahy-bawl, -too-]

adjective

  1. close or direct and often hostile; face-to-face.

    an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation.



Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of eyeball-to-eyeball1

First recorded in 1960–65
Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Face to face; especially, about to begin a conflict. For example, We are eyeball to eyeball with the enemy, or In the playoffs we go eyeball to eyeball with the Yankees, or In the first debate our candidate's going eyeball to eyeball with his opponent. This term was originally used only in a military context but later entered civilian language, particularly in political or sports confrontations. [Colloquial; c. 1950]
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“This is an eyeball-to-eyeball state,” he said.

From

“Humility had absolutely nothing to do with my piece. King’s head is tilted forward — not bowed — so that someone standing below will have a kind of eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with him,” he told the Associated Press.

From

So when I first arrived at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley on Wednesday, the images of the 40th president — in cowboy garb or eyeball-to-eyeball with Gorbachev or loving up Nancy or putting a golf ball in the Oval Office — left me cold.

From

For half a century, Moscow and Washington glared and growled at each other, eyeball-to-eyeball.

From

“This is not just an abstract question. But the fact is that India is in the middle of a war with China. India is locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with China over a disputed frontier,” he said.

From

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


eyeballeyebank