1.
to close one's eyes
To physically shut one's eyes. Used literally for sleeping, relaxing, or concentrating, and figuratively for death or for choosing to ignore something.
そっと目を閉じた。
I gently closed my eyes.
目を閉じて、深呼吸してください。
Close your eyes and take a deep breath.
目を閉じると、子どもの頃の風景が浮かんでくる。
When I close my eyes, scenes from my childhood come to mind.
The standard expression for closing one's eyes. Used in literal, meditative, and figurative contexts.
COMMON USES:
- Physical: relaxation, meditation, sleeping
- Figurative: death (euphemistic — 静かに目を閉じた 'peacefully closed their eyes')
- Figurative: deliberately ignoring something (不正に目を閉じる 'to turn a blind eye to corruption')
RELATED EXPRESSIONS:
- 目を開ける — to open one's eyes
- 目をつぶる — to close one's eyes; to overlook (more colloquial)
- 目を伏せる — to cast one's eyes down
SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS:
- 目をつぶる — also means 'to close one's eyes,' but more colloquial and more commonly used in the sense of overlooking or tolerating something (目をつぶる is more natural for 'turning a blind eye' in casual speech)