shiner eye

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableinformal

   A dark, bruised-looking area around the eye caused by a blow or a fall.

   Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a shiner eye' or 'two shiner eyes', though people usually talk about just one.

   Patterns

   • give someone a shiner eye
   • have a shiner eye
   • get a shiner eye

   He walked into the door and came out with a shiner eye.

   She turned up at school with a shiner eye and wouldn't say how she got it.

   The goalkeeper had a shiner eye after the ball hit him in the face.

2. 2nouncountableinformal

   A mark or blemish that looks like a bruise, especially on fruit or a surface.

   Grammar: Countable, and mostly used in the plural when talking about several marks.

   Patterns

   • have a shiner eye
   • a shiner eye on something

   Pick another apple — that one has a shiner eye on the side.

   The old table was covered in shiner eyes where the varnish had worn away.

Word forms

Common combinations

sport a shiner eye

He turned up to the meeting sporting a shiner eye and a big grin.

give someone a shiner eye

One punch was enough to give him a shiner eye.

a real shiner eye

That's a real shiner eye — you should put some ice on it.

come home with a shiner eye

She came home with a shiner eye after the hockey match.

hide a shiner eye

He tried to hide his shiner eye behind dark glasses.

Synonyms and how they differ

black eye

The standard, neutral term; use this in formal writing or when talking to a doctor.

bruise

A more general word for any dark mark on the skin, not only around the eye.

shiner

The short informal form of the same idea; it is the one you will hear most in speech.

Word family

shiner noun

The short informal word for a black eye, or a small shiny fish.

shiny adjective

Reflecting light; it looks like the start of 'shiner' but has a different meaning.

shine verb

To give out or reflect light.

Commonly confused: shiner eye or shiny eye? shiner eye or black eye?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “shiner eye”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words