eyeballer

English

Etymology

From eyeball +‎ -er (agent noun suffix) or, for something eye-catching, +‎ -er (patient suffix).

Noun

eyeballer (plural eyeballers)

1. One who estimates or judges based on visual inspection rather than detailed analysis.
   • 2007, Jerry Willis -, Foundations of Qualitative Research, →ISBN:

     Eyeballers reject the more structured approaches to analysis that break down the data into small units and, from the perspective of the eyeballers, destroy the wholeness and some of the meaningfulness of the data.

   • 2009, Murray Gunn, Trading Regime Analysis: The Probability of Volatility, →ISBN, page 16:

     In my opinion, it is pretty obvious to the eyeballer of a time series chart whether a market is in a trending regime or a range-trading regime and, as we shall see, how one takes advantage of these regimes can differ between methodology and time frames anyway.

   • 2011, Maryjeanne Hunt, Eating to Lose: Healing From a Life of Diabulimia, →ISBN, page 44:

     Now a master eyeballer, I could accurately transpose almost any food into the equivalent value of another.

   • 2014, Stephen Smith, Puckstruck: Distracted, Delighted and Distressed by Canada's Hockey Obsession, →ISBN, page 99:

     Normally I wouldn't just eyeball it like this, though a pond does allow and even encourage the eyeballer.

2. A voyeur or inquisitive person.
   • 1936, William MacLeod Raine, To Ride the River with, page 34:

     'Anyway, I'm no eyeballer, Miss Ruth.'

   • 1985, Hayden Carruth, Asphalt Georgics, →ISBN, page 64:

     Well, in fact most of the time it ain't so bad, and even kind of sightly when you look at me, an old guy writing poetry in the waiting room at Hancock Airport, all these eyeballers that think I'm wigged or something.

   • 2005, Kevin Michael Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism, →ISBN:

     Frankly, the police hoped for a rainy summer, for there were more eyeballers and agitators driving around trying to see how many Negroes were using the pools than there were people swimming.

   • 2011, Donn Pearce, Cool Hand Luke, →ISBN:

     Years of practice had taught us the art and a certified eyeballer can be staring at his feet and shoveling all day in a perfect frenzy. But all the while he is staring into the burnished pan of his shovel, which catches the reflection of a chrome hub cap whirling by on the road. And in that infinite glimpse he catches the spinning vision of a distant window behind his back, in the frame of which there is the flash of a polished doorknob reflecting around the edge of a doorway to capture on its rounded surface the distorted image of a woman removing her housecoat and putting on a brassiere.

3. An investigator who watches for signs of anything unusual or suspicious.
   • 1973, Right of Way - Volumes 20-21, page 65:

     He must be a curbside eyeballer, a fence jumper, broad jumper, roof climber, cliff scaler, steeplejack and second story man.

   • 2001, Dana Stabenow, The Singing of the Dead, →ISBN, page 168:

     Hell, Kate's one of the best eyeballers around, and even she couldn't place any one of them at any one place at any one time the night Hosford died.

   • 2004, Don Huddle, Murder in Stony Crossing, →ISBN, page 49:

     We could take a look at the area first and station men where somebody can see him all the time -- lots easier'n mushin' and less likely to spook him away from his regular trail. Let's go scout out some likely places to plant eyeballers.

4. (pool) A secret accomplice who surreptitiously watches the competition and interferes by causing a distraction to prevent the opponent from getting a good shot.
   • 1965, Henry Robinson Luce, Life - Volume 58, page 163:

     He would wear a phony diamond ring to flash in your eye, and he would have an “eyeballer” or kibitzer in the audience who would make a sudden noise or otherwise distract you while you were shooting.

   • 1990, Steve Rushin, Pool Cool, →ISBN, page 56:

     The person performing the theatrics, the "eyeballer," is an independent contractor of sorts, hired by you to play nearby and keep an eye on the action at your table; when things get hairy, he's to shark your opponent from afar, all the while making it look innocuous and wholly unintentional.

   • 1995, Robert Byrne, Byrne's Book of Great Pool Stories, page 199:

     We are not bothered by eyeballers, since we manage to keep the lid on about the sting and the rematch, and Carbuncle Harry and the boys have no idea of what is coming down; for this I am very relieved.

5. Someone who stares at another in order to intimidate them.
   • 2002, Ernest Cashmore, Sport Psychology: The Key Concepts, →ISBN, page 107:

     The dominant eyeballer, on the other hand, may interpret this as a significant victory in the psychological battle that accompanies the actual competition; that interpretation will enhance his or her confidence.

   • 2005, David Kettle, Elephant Gnosis, →ISBN, page 66:

     From now on, until we caught him, he was a confirmed eyeballer. Giving it out, expecting to take it. And quite prepared to give it out with extreme prejudice and lack of compunction. He was outrunning the anger of weightlessness. Eyeball confrontations with bus drivers, pavement hoggers, pushers of shopping trolleys full to bursting, legions of levitators, bouncing bomb flyers, yogic tossers, engaging at pre-mythic levels with the central nervous system of the city.

   • 2017, Vivian McClure, So...you Wanna Get Married? Step One: Get Fit!, →ISBN:

     And any attempt to stare her down proved futile; she was a cow who simply could not be eyeballed without the eyeballer ending up burned out.

6. Something eye-catching or worth noticing.
   • 1990, James Tiptree Jr., Her Smoke Rose Up Forever:

     Maybe you noticed on the sport-show or the streets? No commercials. No ads. That's right. NO ADS. An eyeballer for you.

   • 2015, Lorraine M. López, The Darling, →ISBN, page 235:

     "Oh no-o-o-o. What a bust. I was expecting an eyeballer, but it was a total come-on.” “Eyeballer?” “Dealer slang for a flashy thing, a sweet-looking sports car, but crazy affordable, at least according to the ad,” Micah said.

   • 2015, Tom Lisanti, Pamela Tiffin: Hollywood to Rome, 1961–1974, →ISBN, page 142:

     She received the most print from critic Norman Nadel of the World Journal Tribune who called her “a phenomenal eyeballer. It is not so much her acting ... but the combination of that alternatingly babyish and bitchy voice, the whining petulance, the innate vulgarity, and especially the body.