in focus
1. Visually crisp and clear, typically of something seen through a camera or other such adjustable device. If the vase of flowers isn't in focus now, it'll come out blurry in the pictures. When I told the eye doctor that the eye chart wasn't in focus, he adjusted his machine some more. Yeah, but if the footage isn't in focus, we'll never be able to make out the perpetrator's face.
2. Better or more clearly understood or seen in a new perspective. The importance of conservation efforts is now in focus for a lot of the students, thanks to Chelsea's passionate speech about the environment. I'm feeling a lot better now that I've met with my tutor—the plot of The Sound and the Fury is definitely in focus. No, I'm not mad at her anymore. We talked one-on-one, and everything is in focus now.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*in focus
1. Lit. [of an image] seen clearly and sharply. (*Typically: be ~; come [into] ~; get [into] ~; get something [into] ~.) I have the slide in focus and can see the bacteria clearly.
2. Lit. [for optics, such as lenses, or an optical device, such as a microscope] to be aligned to allow something to be seen clearly and sharply. I've adjusted the telescope; Mars is now in focus.
3. Fig. [of problems, solutions, appraisals of people or things] perceived or understood clearly. (*Typically: be ~; get [into] ~; get something [into] ~.) Now that things are in focus, I feel better about the world.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.