Having sharp, penetrating eyes that seem to bore through or examine carefully, like the sharp point of a gimlet.
Metaphorical combination of 'gimlet' (sharp tool) and '-eyed,' describing eyes that resemble the sharp, probing quality of a gimlet's point.
Writers loved this word—a character with 'gimlet eyes' could see through deception and cut right to the truth, so the word became slang for someone with keen insight or suspicion, especially in detective fiction.
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