squint at

squint at (someone or something)

To purse one's eyelids half-shut while looking at someone or something. If you squint at Sarah, you might just mistake her for her mother. I've been squinting at this fine print for nearly 10 minutes trying to read it all.
See also: squint
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

squint at someone or something

to look at someone or something with the eyes partly closed. (When squinting, the eyes are partly closed by pressing the upper and lower eyelids toward one another.) Why are you squinting at me? I had to squint at the small print in order to read it.
See also: squint
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • squint
  • squint at (someone or something)
  • squint out (of) (something)
  • squint out of
  • squint like a bag of nails
  • disgusted
  • disgusted at
  • disgusted at (someone or something)
  • disgusted with
  • disgusted with (someone or something)
References in classic literature
"Well, anyway, at the end of the half-hour down she came again and took a good squint at me.
Adventure
We are in a banker's-parcel case just at present, and I have been down the road taking as squint at the scene of action, and thereupon must have a word or two with our client."
Great Expectations
For Dr Barnard, while there is potential for its use in other conditions, the impact the Eye Check could have on catching squint at a young age remains a priority.
Volk eye check: optometrist Dr Simon Barnard and IRISS chief executive Yuval Yashiv speak to OT's Ryan O'Hare about developing their new diagnostic tool
Many youngsters said they would hide their glasses because they were embarrassed about them (26 per cent) and one in six (16 per cent) preferred to squint at the whiteboard rather than wear their specs in class.
Youngsters teased and bullied over spectacles
4 Don't squint at a computer screen for hours on end - Botox doctors dub those frown lines between your eyebrows and squint lines around your eyes 'Computer Face'!
5 WAYS TO.. GET GOOD SKIN; Karen Barber Facing 50, feeling fab!
On day 3 we revel in the unparalleled vistas from a magical place called White Crack, squint at fancifully named rock "castles" like Washer Woman Arch and Monster Tower, and reveal our deepest secrets playing "I have never" under a canopy of stars.
Pedal to rock: exploring the legendary canyon country of Moab, Utah, with queer mountain bikers
IF you need cheering up after today's match at Hampden - and I hope we don't - just have another squint at yesterday's story about big Bob Malcolm being handcuffed in court.
Tam Cowan: Reliance write on
IT SEEMS A HOPELESS TASK: UNDER A BLAZING SUN AT THE U.S.--Mexico border, a customs inspector must squint at the tires and gas tanks of thousands of passing tractor trailers to divine if a few kilos of cocaine or heroin might be stuffed into the trucks' most unreachable crevices.
X-ray Vision
THERE'S no need to visit a stuffy art gallery to have a squint at the new Picasso, Citroen has sent me this photo of its latest motor.
CIT DOWN TO ENJOY THIS WORK OF ART
But after a quick squint at Irene, Chloe and Judy, worrying about wrinkles isn't going to be high on their list of priorities just yet.
Specs put in shade