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eye of the storm

eye of the storm

10 4.1
A calm area at the center of a storm or a quiet time in the middle of chaos
  • noun
  • /aɪ ʌv ðə stɔrm/
translation icon : ojo del huracán
  • During the hurricane, we experienced a brief respite in the eye of the storm before the winds picked up again.
  • a calm in the eye of the storm
  • the center of the eye of the storm
  • the eye of the storm passed

So, you know, I had courtside seats to see really great people be in the eye of the storm.

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Examples

  • I longed to be on one of those planes that flew into the eye of the storm, buffeted by winds, shaken as if by a giant's hand, to emerge into that perfect calm of the eye with clouds piled high all around.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The eye of the storm has passed, and we're 40 miIes from Manhattan.

  • We're only in the eye of the storm.

  • We're in the eye of the storm.

  • We're going into the eye of the storm.

  • The worst will be early tomorrow morning when the eye of the storm comes in.

    Blog text (22)
  • The current storm track puts the eye of the storm directly over Central New York later this week.

    Blog text (28)
  • As of right now, I'm protected in the eye of the storm, so to speak, so...

  • Considering we are located in the 'eye of the storm,' ours was an especially important mission.

    Blog text (2)
  • Forecasters are predicting the eye of the storm will cross Pele by late this afternoon.

Synonyms

eye
vseye of the storm
211 7.0

The calm center of an area surrounded by strong wind or activity

is more specific to violent weather centers and often implies literal calm
hurricane's eye
vseye of the storm
1 4.7

A calm, clear area at the centre of a hurricane surrounded by strong winds

is used more broadly to mean calm at a center of chaos and metaphor

Antonyms

438 3.1

A situation with no order where people are confused and cannot act normally

How Calm

eye of the storm
10 4.1
serenity
48 4.4
calm
735 1.0
turbulence
  • Specialized
44 4.8
disturbance
45 3.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

eye + of + the + storm

The meaning 'the calm area at the center of a storm' is directly built from the constituents: 'eye' as a central part and 'storm' as the surrounding disturbance, so a learner who knows those words can infer the MWE. This construction is also cross-linguistically transparent and frequent in meteorological and metaphorical uses, making it accessible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Eye of the storm comes from the real eye at the center of a big storm, where it is calm while wind and rain move around it, so it now means a quiet or safe time 'in the middle of chaos'.