Word.ws English Dictionary

keeping one's eye on the ball

keeping one's eye on the ball is the present participle and gerund of keep one's eye on the ball.

Meaning of keep one's eye on the ball

Verb

keep one's eye on the ball (third-person singular simple present keeps one's eye on the ball, present participle keeping one's eye on the ball, simple past and past participle kept one's eye on the ball)

  1. (idiomatic) To maintain one's concentration fixed on one important theme.
    • My ethos has always been to be very straight with people, tell it as it is. It doesn't often make people happy but I found that over a period of time it's better to be that way. So being straight, also being very focused on your objectives, keep your eye on the ball and not get deflected away from...2006 Feb 18, Michael Holden quoting Sir Alan Sugar in The Guardian, You can call me Sir Al

Questions about keeping one's eye on the ball

What is keeping one's eye on the ball the present participle and gerund of?
Keeping one's eye on the ball is the present participle and gerund of keep one's eye on the ball.

Words near keeping one's eye on the ball in the dictionary

  1. keeping one's counsel
  2. keeping one's countenance
  3. keeping one's distance
  4. keeping one's ears open
  5. keeping one's end up
  6. keeping one's eye on the ball
  7. keeping one's eyeballs peeled
  8. keeping one's eyes on the ball
  9. keeping one's eyes open
  10. keeping one's eyes peeled
  11. keeping one's eyes skinned

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keeping one's eye on the ball (page history and authors); keep one's eye on the ball (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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