Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. Aus.) to stare at, to ogle.

1846		C.P. Hodgson Reminiscences of Aus. 302: This day’s work [climbing a tree to look around] is what is generally though not elegantly termed ‘eye-balling.’.
1873		Bradford Obs. 10 May 6/3: Windows here suggests how brave inside / Lurks eyeballed gems they play the eyelids to!
1901		Harper’s Monthly Feb. 443/1: ‘God!’ burst from the lips of the man as he eyeballed his attendant.
1935		Z.N. Hurston Mules and Men (1995) 122: De cat come up and was lookin’ at de man, and de man was lookin’ at de cat. God seen how they eye-balled one ’nother so He ast de man, ‘Man, what is it between you and dis cat?’.
1942		Z.N. Hurston ‘Story in Harlem Sl.’ in Novels and Stories (1995) 1001: Whenever he was challenged by a hard-head or a frail eel on the right of his title he would eye-ball the idol-breaker with a slice of ice.
1957		R. Prather Always Leave ’Em Dying 67: I’m leaving. This egg is eyeballing me too intently.
1961		R.A. Norton Through Beatnik Eyeballs 16: It blacken me that he dislike to eyeball my bare feet.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 54: We [...] eyeballed the fine chicks.
1987		B. Chatwin Songlines 91: He eyeballed Arkady.
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 111: I find myself eyeballin’ Nood’s mum.
2002		J. Cameron Hell on Hoe Street 237: Terry eyeballed him.
2009		P. Temple Truth 189: ‘Eyeballing my sexy friend,’ said Tony Ruskin [...] ‘I don’t eyeball,’ said Villani. ‘Sometimes I stare’.
2010		J. Ellroy Hilliker Curse 12: I went back to eyeballing women for my answers.
2013		T. Black Ringer [ebook] n.p.: It’s seriously eyeballing me like I’m a nonce or that.
2015		J. Stahl OG Dad 74: I don’t go near any of it [i.e. a store of narcotics] (Well, that’s not true, I kind of eyeball the stuff).
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 16: I eyeballed the room.
2021		Breen & Conlon Hitmen 121: Wilson eyeballed him from the dock.

2. (orig. US) to inspect or examine.

1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 13: I would be [...] lying on my bunk, eyeballing the whitewashed ceiling.
1953		L. Durst Jives of Dr. Hepcat (1989) 8: A cat who has been everywhere and seen everything. He has cruised upstate and eyeballed the ickies and beige frames.
1976		N. Thornburg Cutter and Bone (2001) 49: One second he eyeballs the picture and tells us It’s him.
1989		(con. 1982–6) T. Williams Cocaine Kids (1990) 37: Max says he didn’t put it on the scale, he eyeballed it.
1992		A. Duff One Night Out Stealing 150: It was no big deal, not as if it was eyeballin or nothin, just kinda half-hostile curiosity.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 155: He free-poured Grand Marnier into the heated glass, eyeballing the level carefully.
2005		J. Stahl I, Fatty 21: I loved sniffing around backstage, eyeballing the costumes.
2012		M. McBride Frank Sinatra in a Blender [ebook] When he practiced, he never actually made the climb, but he did eyeball it.
2020		G. Disher Consolation 160: ‘I asked if I could meet Adrian’s representative up there, so I could eyeball the units’.
2021		Breen & Conlon Hitmen 231: [T]hey eyeballed the house.

3. (US) to meet or experience in person.

1967

E. Shepard Doom Pussy 246: [Her] integrity forced her to report only stories she had ‘eyeballed’.

4. (US) to look out for.

1969		C. Sellers Where Have All the Soldiers Gone 32: ‘Yeah, baby, only eyeball for Garrick. Last medic [...] Garrick used to check his pouches every day’.
		T. Pluck ‘Legacy of Brutality’ in Life During Wartime (2018) 70: The hustler on the corner, Terence, is out eyeballing for customers.