Practice
Keep your eyes peeled: meaning and use in English
Sign in to saveThe bus stop is crowded, and you are waiting for a friend in a red coat. You might say, Keep your eyes peeled for Maya. You mean: watch carefully so you notice her when she arrives.
Use keep your eyes peeled to ask someone to watch carefully for a specific person, object, or sign.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
Keep your eyes peeled for the blue house. /kiːp jʊr aɪz piːld fər ðə bluː haʊs/
The short answer
Keep your eyes peeled means watch carefully and stay alert for something you expect to see. It is usually followed by for and the thing or person to look for.
Keep your eyes peeled for the blue house on the left.
Why it works: The speaker asks the listener to watch for one particular house.
5 more examples
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Keep your eyes peeled for a yellow taxi after the concert.
The speaker expects a taxi to appear and asks the listener to watch carefully.
Not this:
Look atthe yellow taxi across the street. What changes: Look at directs attention to something already visible. Keep your eyes peeled is for something to notice later. -
Keep your eyes peeled for the trail marker near the bridge.
A marker may be easy to miss, so the phrase asks for sustained attention.
Not this:
Watchthe bridge while I cross it. What changes: Watch can describe observing an activity. The idiom focuses on finding a particular target. -
I will keep my eyes peeled for your reply.
The speaker promises to look out for a message that has not arrived yet.
Not this:I will
readyour reply this evening. What changes: Read happens after the message arrives. Keep my eyes peeled describes waiting and checking for it. -
The children kept their eyes peeled for dolphins from the boat.
Kept is the past form when the careful watching happened earlier.
Not this:The children
sawdolphins from the boat. What changes: Saw reports the result. Kept their eyes peeled describes the effort to notice them. -
Please keep your eyes peeled for a small envelope with no return address.
Please makes the instruction polite while the idiom keeps its informal tone.
Not this:Please
remain alertfor suspicious mail. What changes: Remain alert is more formal and may fit an official instruction better.
Read the full guide
Use the idiom when you expect something might appear and careful observation will help. Add for before the target: keep your eyes peeled for the exit, for a message, or for a lost dog. In a casual situation, it can sound warmer than a plain command such as Watch carefully.
Learn the main meaning
Keep your eyes peeled means stay alert and look carefully. Use it when you expect to see something but do not know exactly when it will appear. The phrase often gives a friendly warning that the target could be missed.
Keep your eyes peeled for the museum entrance.
The entrance may be nearby but not obvious. The speaker asks the listener to look out for it.
What does the speaker want you to do in Keep your eyes peeled for my name on the board?
They want you to watch the board carefully and notice their name if it appears.
Use for before the target
The usual pattern is keep your eyes peeled for plus the person, thing, or sign you expect. The word for introduces the target of your attention. Do not normally say keep your eyes peeled to a person or object.
Keep your eyes peeled for a parking space near the library.
For a parking space tells us exactly what the listener should try to notice.
Keep your eyes peeled for the number 14 bus.
The bus is the target. The phrase describes watching until that bus arrives.
Change the possessive to match the subject
The base form has your because it often addresses another person. Change the possessive when you talk about yourself or another group. Say I will keep my eyes peeled, we kept our eyes peeled, or they should keep their eyes peeled.
I will keep my eyes peeled for an email from the landlord.
My matches I. The core words keep and eyes peeled remain together.
How do you report the instruction for a group of visitors?
You can say: The guide told the visitors to keep their eyes peeled for the sign.
Choose the tense that fits the time
Use keep in a present or future instruction. Use kept when the careful watching happened in the past. The meaning stays the same, but the verb shows when the action took place.
Keep your eyes peeled for a text from Ben.
Keep is an instruction for now or later.
We kept our eyes peeled for the street sign, but we drove past it.
Kept shows that the search happened during a past journey.
Pick a suitable level of formality
This idiom is common in relaxed speech and informal writing. It works well between friends, colleagues, or family members. In a formal notice or a serious instruction, use a direct phrase such as watch for, look out for, or remain alert for if it fits the audience better.
Keep your eyes peeled for the delivery van, okay?
Okay and the idiom make this sound casual and conversational.
Passengers should watch for platform changes on the display.
Watch for is plain and clear for a public instruction.
Before you go
Remember this
Use keep your eyes peeled for when you want someone to watch carefully for a target that may appear. Keep the idiom together, add for before the target, and change your to my, our, or their when the subject changes.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Keep your eyes peeled: meaning and use in English"
What does keep your eyes peeled mean?
It means watch carefully and stay alert for something you expect to see. People use it when a person, object, sign, or event may appear and they do not want someone to miss it.
Keep your eyes peeled for a yellow taxi after the concert.
What word comes after keep your eyes peeled?
Use for before the target: keep your eyes peeled for the entrance, for a reply, or for a friend. The phrase after for names what the person should watch for.
Look at the yellow taxi across the street.
Can I say keep my eyes peeled?
Yes. Change the possessive to match the subject: I will keep my eyes peeled, we kept our eyes peeled, and they should keep their eyes peeled. The idiom itself stays the same.
Keep your eyes peeled for the trail marker near the bridge.
Is keep your eyes peeled formal or informal?
It is informal and works well in ordinary conversation, friendly messages, and casual instructions. For an official notice, watch for or remain alert for may be clearer.
Watch the bridge while I cross it.
Is keep your eyes peeled the same as look at?
No. Look at usually directs attention to something already visible. Keep your eyes peeled asks someone to continue watching so they notice a particular target when it appears.
I will keep my eyes peeled for your reply.