private eye

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private eye

slang A private investigator or detective. "Eye" is a pun on the letter "i" in "investigator." The disgraced police detective moved to another state and started a business as a private eye. It turned out they'd hired a private eye to keep tabs on her after she left the law firm.

See also: eye, private

private eye

A privately employed detective, as opposed to one working for the police or another authority. For example, The children loved stories about private eyes, and Janey wanted to become one. This expression comes from the term private investigator, the "i" of investigator being changed to "eye," which plays on the idea of a person looking into things. [1930s]

See also: eye, private

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

a ˌprivate ˈeye

(informal) a detective who is not in the police, but who can be employed to find out information, find a missing person, follow somebody, etc: They hired a private eye to look for more evidence.

See also: eye, private

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

private eye

n. a detective who is licensed to work privately rather than for a police department. I worked for a while as a private eye.

See also: eye, private

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References in periodicals archive ?

“A mention in Private Eye - a magazine that I, for one, have enjoyed reading over many years - is quite an accolade.

Private Eye Magazine Spots Silver Fox

He revealed: "I've always fancied playing a private eye, ever since I saw Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes in Chinatown."

Star Iain I'm just Jack on the box

Adam Macqueen works for Private Eye. His book is not so much a history of the magazine, as Patrick Marnham's was in 1982 to celebrate its 21st anniversary, as an alphabetical snapshot of events, written in the form of an encyclopaedia.

JUSTREAD

Private Eye is a relatively small operation run from London offices with a permanent staff of about 20 and a "huge number" of freelancers.

British satire's Private Eye going strong at 50

Few of those whose scandals, gaffes and blunders have been ex-x posed this year have escaped mentions in the Private Eye Annual 2009.

Spoilt for choice; Private Eye editor Ian Hislop talks to Roy Bayliss about his favourite stories of 2009

Private Eye was founded by four old boys of Shrewsbury School--Christopher Booker (editor 1961-63), Paul Foot (nephew of the politician Michael Foot), Richard Ingrams (editor 1963-87) and Willie Rushton, all of whom had worked on the school magazine, The Salopian.

The satirical eye

He has written for everybody, but most notably the satirical magazine Private Eye where these sharp and funny parodies originated.

Queen's man on the roof ( Gosh!

Paying tribute, Private Eye editor Ian Hislop said: ``He was a tremendous journalist and he will be a huge loss.

Journalist Paul Foot dies at 66

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency's logo was a large unblinking eye, inspiring the term "private eye." Pinkerton believed a good detective should have the following characteristics:

The fraud examiners: sleuthing careers bring CPAs personal and professional satisfaction

The idea is to insulate CEOs--under the privileged claim of attorney-client work product--from the hands-on private eye work, some of which can be messy.

Send in the spooks: safecracking gumshoes from the CIA and the FBI are finding second careers--helping CEOs protect their businesses. (Management)

Somewhere between a real-life investigative reporter and a fictional private eye (a composite of Spanish writer Manuel Vazquez Montalban and his character Pepe Carvalho comes to mind), Garaicoa tracks his subjects from one continent to another, prying into their pasts, analyzing their presents, imagining their futures with a compelling mix of determination and (self-) derision.

Carlos Garaicoa: Maison Europeenne de La Photographie. (Reviews: Paris)

European systems integrator Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGEY) is facing a financial slapped wrist for a recent foray into less-than-conventional advertising methods, according to a recent story in satirical magazine Private Eye.

CGEY faces cleaning bill from irate London borough

Marcus suggests Randy hire a private eye to find out if his wife is having an affair.

Love Don't Live Here Anymore. (fiction reviews)

Author Cathy Cole's second novel - 'Skin Deep' - features the return of Nicola Sharpe, a crime-fighting private eye.

Sydney-based crime novel to be published

Mancuso played a master-of-disguise private eye, a fore-runner of his Stingray character a decade later.