rivet attention

rivet (one's) attention (on someone or something)

1. To capture and hold one's attention completely. The astonishing magic trick riveted the audience's attention. The film riveted my attention from beginning to end.
2. To focus one's attention completely and continuously (on someone or something). I riveted my attention on the television as the final seconds of the game ticked away. I don't think I could handle celebrity. Having thousands of people rivet their attention on me every day sounds like a nightmare.
See also: attention, rivet, someone
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

rivet someone's attention

Fig. to keep someone's attention fixed [on something]. The movie riveted the audience's attention. Professor Jones's lecture riveted the students' attention.
See also: attention, rivet
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • rivet (one's) attention (on someone or something)
  • riveting
  • grip (one's) attention
  • get (one's) attention
  • turn (one's) mind to (something)
  • hold (one's) attention
  • hold attention
  • attention
  • grab (one's) attention
  • grab attention
References in periodicals archive
"The milestones for each 1,000 deaths -- while an arbitrary marker -- serve to rivet attention on the war and have come during a range of pivotal moments.
How News Outlets Reported U.S. Toll in Iraq Hitting 4,000
The second part of Clever as Serpents, chapters 6 through 9, proposes practical techniques for dealing with "the jungle of office politics." For readers who may find the first half of this book too theoretical, the concrete diagnosis and applications here rivet attention to the office pathologies of passing the buck, the gossip triangle, and mob behavior.
Clever as Serpents: Business Ethics and Office Politics
The credibility and international scope of IABC could rivet attention of communication education issues in ways no faculty alone could ever hope to do.
Public relations education: our future is banking on it