Meaning & use
corner eye
Last updated
Meaning
nounsingularinformal
The outer edge of your field of vision, where you can see something without looking straight at it.
Grammar: Almost always singular and used with 'out of' or 'from': 'out of your corner eye' is not standard, so keep the full phrase 'the corner of your eye'.
Patterns
- out of the corner of your eye
- see something out of the corner of your eye
- catch something from the corner of your eye
I saw a cat slip past the door out of the corner of my eye.
She caught his smile out of the corner of her eye and tried not to laugh.
Something moved out of the corner of his eye, so he turned around.
Common combinations
- out of the corner of your eye
- I noticed the sign out of the corner of my eye while driving.
- catch a glimpse out of the corner of your eye
- He caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye.
- see something out of the corner of your eye
- Did you see that bird out of the corner of your eye?
- a quick glance from the corner of your eye
- She gave him a quick glance from the corner of her eye.
Synonyms and how they differ
- peripheral vision
- This is the formal, neutral term for what you see at the edges of your sight; 'corner eye' is the casual spoken version.
- side glance
- A side glance is a deliberate quick look to the side, while 'corner eye' describes accidental or indirect seeing.
Commonly confused: corner eye or corner of the eye?
corner eye vs corner of the eye
This is the standard full phrase; 'corner eye' is a shortened, informal version and sounds wrong in formal writing.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses the phrase correctly.
Choose one answer.
The fixed expression is 'out of the corner of your eye'. The other options break the word order or use 'in' or 'on', which do not fit this idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “corner eye”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.