eye-opener

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See also: eyeopener and eye opener

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From eye +‎ opener.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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eye-opener (plural eye-openers)

  1. (literally) Something that causes the eyes to open, or that opens the eyes.
  2. (informal) Something that provides a sudden insight, or makes something clear that was previously mysterious.
  3. (informal, idiomatic) A startling or shocking revelation.
    A visit to the slaughterhouse was a real eye-opener to anyone who thought they understood where their food came from.
    • 2013, R. Heppner, The Lost Leaders: How Corporate America Loses Women Leaders:
      That was a very big eye-opener for me, after being very cocooned, living most of my life in the city where I was born and raised.
  4. (informal, euphemistic) A strong alcoholic beverage, especially one consumed in the morning.
    As soon as I got on the plane I asked the flight attendant for an eye-opener, but all he had to offer was orange juice.
  5. (informal) An attractive woman.
    • 1943 August 19, “It's high time you met ANN MILLER”, in Good Morning, number 106, London: Royal Navy Submarine Branch, →OCLC, page 1:
      Seems appropriate that Ann Miller should be in Columbia's "Reveille With Beverly." We've never seen anyone capable of "showing a leg" more attractively. At close range, too, she's an eye-opener.
    • 1998, Charles Panati, Sexy Origins and Intimate Things, New York: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 274:
      A woman cycling in a skirt was a hazard to herself and an eye-opener for men on the sidelines every time she raised a leg or fell off her bike.
    (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
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Translations

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References

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