Meaning & use
bird's-eye view
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A view of something seen from high above, as if looking down from the sky.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a bird's-eye view' or the plural 'bird's-eye views'.
Patterns
- a bird's-eye view of something
- get a bird's-eye view
- from a bird's-eye view
From the top of the tower we had a bird's-eye view of the whole harbor.
The drone gave us a bird's-eye view of the flooded fields.
nounsingularfigurative
A broad, general understanding of a subject without fine details.
Grammar: Usually singular and followed by 'of': a bird's-eye view of the problem.
Patterns
- a bird's-eye view of something
- give someone a bird's-eye view
The first chapter gives a bird's-eye view of the whole history of the region.
Her report offers a bird's-eye view of the company's finances rather than a detailed audit.
Word forms
| plural | bird's-eye views |
|---|
Common combinations
- a bird's-eye view of the city
- The Ferris wheel gave us a bird's-eye view of the city.
- get a bird's-eye view
- Climb the hill if you want to get a bird's-eye view.
- from a bird's-eye view
- From a bird's-eye view, the streets look like a grid.
- a bird's-eye view of the situation
- The summary provides a bird's-eye view of the situation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- aerial view
- Almost the same meaning, but 'aerial view' is more technical and is used about photos and maps taken from aircraft.
- overview
- Fits the figurative sense better than the literal one, since an overview is a summary, not something seen from above.
Opposites
Word family
- bird's-eye adjective
- Used before a noun, as in 'a bird's-eye photograph'.
Commonly confused: bird's-eye view or bird view?
bird's-eye view vs bird view
'Bird view' without the apostrophe-s is not the standard form; use 'bird's-eye view'.
Practice
Which sentence uses the expression correctly?
Choose one answer.
The fixed form is 'a bird's-eye view', with the apostrophe-s on 'bird' and hyphens between the words. Option 2 misses the apostrophe, option 3 puts the apostrophe in the wrong place, and option 4 has the words in the wrong order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bird's-eye view”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.