eyeing up

Verb

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

1. (colloquial, idiomatic, transitive) To examine (something or someone) closely (often, something or someone coveted).
   • Near-synonyms: give someone the eye, take a look (intransitive)

   Synonyms:

   eyeball, give someone the eye, take a look

2. (colloquial, idiomatic) To examine casually by eye, with little or no measuring or testing.
   • Hey, while you're there, take a look at their furnace. You don't have to inspect it — just eye it up and tell me whether it's decrepit or not.

   Synonyms:

   eyeball