a bird's-eye view

a bird's eye view

1. A view looking down at an object or area from a high elevation (as if from the perspective of a bird in flight). From up here you can get a bird's eye view of the entire campus.
2. A consideration of a problem or situation from a comprehensive perspective. In order to determine why the company was headed towards a fiscal disaster, the CFO had to take a step back and get a bird's eye view of the situation so he could locate the cause of the problem.
See also: eye, view
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a bird's-eye view

1. If you have a bird's-eye view of a place, you are looking down on it from a high position and can see all of it. His pilot's licence enabled us to have a bird's-eye view of the beautiful countryside.
2. If you have a bird's-eye view of a situation, you know what is happening in all the parts of it. I was a parliamentary journalist, so I had a bird's eye view of the way politicians encourage people to believe in dreams. Note: People often change bird to a word that is relevant to what they are talking about. He seems to have a soldier's eye view. He has a child's eye view of the war based on his own experiences. Compare with a worm's eye view.
See also: view
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

a bird's-eye view

a general view from above.
See also: view

—'s-eye view

a view from the position or standpoint of the person or thing specified.
The most common versions of this phrase are bird's-eye view (see bird) and worm's-eye view (see worm).
1982 Ian Hamilton Robert Lowell There is a kind of double vision: the child's eye view judged and interpreted by the ironical narrator.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

a ˌbird’s-eye ˈview (of something)

a good view of something from high above: From the church tower you get a bird’s-eye view of the town.
See also: view
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

bird's-eye view, a

An overall view, the large picture. The term dates from about 1600 and not only means “panoramic” but also may imply a somewhat superficial picture. Thus a “bird’s-eye view” of music history, for example, may try to cover five hundred years of musical composition in a one-semester course. A 1989 New York Times headline, “Human-Eye View,” announcing a special tour of a natural history museum’s ornithology collection, gave this cliché a new twist.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • a bird's eye view
  • bird's eye view
  • bird's-eye view
  • eye-view
  • bird's-eye view, a
  • in (someone's) view
  • in view
  • pan over
  • come into view
  • fade from view
References in periodicals archive
MOHAMMED AL-SULAMI Arab News took to the skies with the Royal Saudi Air Force on Friday for a bird's-eye view of pilgrims and the measures in place for their safety and security.
Eyes in the sky help to keep Hajj pilgrims safe
You get a bird's-eye view of the country's greatest sights while special effects including wind, mist and aromas add to the experience.
Finished shopping and must fly now
Our Picture Editor's choice of today's top picture TODAY'S picture gives a bird's-eye view of a couple of international icons - the Liver Building and King Edward VII - as snapped by ECHO Flickr group user David Nesbitt uk.
Lane's LENS
THE organisers of the London 2012 Olympics have invited the world to enjoy a bird's-eye view of the completed "world-class venues" where the Games will be held next year.
Olympic site birds' eye views revealed; InBrief
Third, students must be able to read a bird's-eye view. By answering relevant questions, they can engage the view in a "conversation" to identify pertinent content in the view, make sense of that content, connect it to what is being studied, and communicate findings.
Boosting Chicago: bird's-eye views as maps of progress
The system, using four highly sensitive, high-resolution, super-wide angle radio cameras mounted on a vehicle's front, sides and rear, synthesizes a bird's-eye view of the vehicle and its surrounding environment, Sanyo said in its release.
Sanyo Electric develops all-around view monitor for large vehicles
It gives a bird's-eye view of this ancient forest, situated a few miles south of Northampton, and its birds and other wildlife.
Travel: Fun won't cost the earth - A birds-eye view over the treetops; More and more Midland holidaymakers are keen to take "green" holidays and short breaks. Here we list a few varied ideas of enjoyable breaks and days out you can take with a clear conscience
Students will create an abstract drawing that represents a community from a bird's-eye view.
Creating abstract communities: high school
The structure culminates with a two-story elevated platform that affords the visitor a bird's-eye view of Oiticica's Eden, 1966-69/2005: From this perspective, the rich sensorial experience of the installation's brightly colored wading pools, plastic tents, cabins, and straw nests appears to resolve into an orchestrated plan of abstract geometric forms.
"Tropicalia: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture"; Museum of contemporary art, Chicago
Rawles gives readers a bird's-eye view of true plantation life as we follow Sadie through several masters, a number of states and at least three companions--but only one love.
My Jim
Images captured by Eagle Eye's state-of-the-art sensor systems will be sent back in real time, vastly expanding the ship's footprint and giving commanders a bird's-eye view of the tactical picture.
Coast Guard Aviation: service in transition
From the ship's top deck, the visitors got a bird's-eye view of staged equipment that would soon be enroute to Iraq.
USNS Pililaau visits namesakes' home
* BOULDER, COLORADO Fly like an eagle For a bird's-eye view of Rocky Mountain splendor, splurge on a soar with Mile High Gliding, which offers FAA-certified flights in high-performance sailpianes year-round out of Boulder Municipal Airport.
Fly like an eagle. (Tips & Trips: The Rockies in April)
A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW Near-infrared light--which is just beyond the red edge of the visible spectrum--can't penetrate dust as well as X rays can.
The Milky Way's middle: getting a clear view. (Cover Story)
Bigger, though not as dense as Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, this autobiography by one of the most important American physicists of the 20th century offers a bird's-eye view of most of the folks (Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Niels Bohr, J.
Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics