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Glite Dictionary
to close your eyes

to close your eyes

305 1.0
To shut your eyelids or ignore a problem and take a risk
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : cerrar los ojos
  • OK, now close your eyes and just say it.
  • Now close your eyes
  • close your eyes again

You look at the candles, you close your eyes and you make a wish.

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Examples

  • In the bathtub, she closed her eyes and dreamt of winter.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Just close your eyes and breathe.

    Elektra (2005)

  • You pick that and close your eyes, turn around.

  • So I want you to close your eyes, feel, feel it in your heart.

  • And try to close your eyes and smell that.

  • You just gotta close your eyes and cross the street.

    Buck Southworth: U.S. Air Force Flight Crew (2021)

  • All she wanted was to lie down, stretch as far as she could, and close her eyes.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Everyone, close your eyes and listen carefully to the following sequence of sounds.

    Academic text (2011)

  • At this confession, she breaks down, closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath.

    Academic text (2014)

  • When I say go, close your eyes and listen carefully to my voice.

Synonyms

to shut
vsto close your eyes
∞ 1.0

To close something so it is not open

is specific to eyelid shutting and also can mean ignoring or risking
to rest your eyes
vsto close your eyes
7 2.2

To close your eyes for a short time to avoid eye strain

can also mean shutting eyelids to ignore something or risk unknown outcome
to close one's eyes
vsto close your eyes
1.3

Shut your eyes to rest, relax, or not see something

also means deliberately ignore something or take an unknown risk

Antonyms

to face the truth
16 3.7

Accept real facts even when they are painful

Surface Forms

close your eyes infinitive
closed your eyes past
closed your eyes past participle
closing your eyes present participle
closes your eyes third person singular

Morphology

close + your + eye

The literal sense 'to shut one's eyelids' is directly and transparently derivable from 'close' + 'your' + 'eyes', so a B1 learner who knows the words will understand that meaning. However, the extended/idiomatic sense 'to ignore or deliberately not acknowledge something' is a metaphorical extension that is not fully predictable without exposure (even though many languages use a similar metaphor), so overall the expression is best classified as partially transparent.

Etymology

Close your eyes comes from the simple image of shutting your eyes; people often close their eyes to avoid seeing a surprise or to get ready for a risky jump. That's why it means both 'shut one's eyelids' and, by extension, 'to ignore a problem on purpose' or 'to take a chance without knowing the outcome'.