目不转睛

mù bù zhuǎn jīng

to watch without taking one’s eyes off; to stare intently

Character by character

目mù
eyes

不bù
not

转zhuǎn
turn

睛jīng
eyeballs

孩子们目不转睛地盯着屏幕，叫了好几次都没反应。

The children were glued to the screen and didn’t respond even when they were called several times.

Tone: neutral.

Usually 目不转睛地 + 看／盯着／望着. Describes a rapt audience or a pupil hanging on the teacher’s words; in a story about eyesight, it is the problem.

Learn this in Lesson 18 · HSK 5: “小眼镜”越来越多 (Why so many children wear glasses)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.