Definition of "sore-eyed" []

• Having sore eyes.
• Having orbital caruncles, as if sores: as, the sore-eyed pigeon. See cut under sheathbill.

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "Many a poor sore-eyed student that I have heard of would grow faster, both intellectually and physically, if, instead of sitting up so very late, he honestly slumbered a fool's allowance."
• ""Ruth is always picking up the sore-eyed kittens.""
• "An attendant was tenderly bandaging the blinking lids of a sore-eyed duck: another was feeding a blind crow, who, it must be confessed, looked here very much like some fat member of the New York Ring cunningly availing himself of the more toothsome rations in the sick ward of the penitentiary."