From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishset/lay/clap eyes on somebody/somethingset/lay/clap eyes on somebody/somethingspokenSEE to see something or meet someone, especially for the first time I loved that house from the moment I clapped eyes on it. → eye
Examples from the Corpus
set/lay/clap eyes on somebody/something• The couple fell in love before they had even set eyes on each other during a six-month long distance courtship.• Just hours earlier she had set eyes on the pretty two-year-old and sister Anna-Camilla, seven, for the first time.• Bedford disliked Halsey the minute he set eyes on him.• Never anywhere have I set eyes on such a one.• I bonded on the second night I laid eyes on Hyakutake.• How could she possibly know, since he had not set eyes on the girl?• No sooner did she set eyes on the gentleman than she recognised his pecuniary position to be merely temporary. 