[gdds]

(part 1/3)

Let's put this to bed once and for all. The sentence under discussion is:

> A woman in her forties sits on a bench, fixing the shrine with her gaze.

The construction in this sentence is perfectly standard in both British and American English, documented by reputable dictionaries, and in common usage across contexts from tabloids and young adult fantasy to newspapers of record and literary fiction.

Dictionaries: Several commenters have posted dictionary entries for related but distinct constructions like "fix a gaze on." Here are entries supporting the exact construction under discussion.

1. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fix-with

2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fix%20(someone)%2...

3. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/fix, definition 9: "If you fix someone with a particular kind of expression, you look at them in that way."

- "He took her hand and fixed her with a look of deep concern. [VERB noun with noun]"

- "He fixed me with a lopsided grin. [VERB noun with noun]"

examples from other Collins entries:

- "The man fixed his interrogator with a steady gaze and spoke quietly but firmly." (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/sentences/english/gaze)

- "He pulls his other hand towards his face and fixes me with an intense gaze that has been well practised." (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/inte...)

4. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fix#Verb, definition 1.1: "(Of a piercing look) to direct at someone." (note that definition 1, but not 1.1, is marked as obsolete)

- "He fixed me with a sickly grin, and said, 'I told you it wouldn't work!'"

- "She sniffed, too, comprehendingly, and fixed her son with a relentless eye."

5. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/englis..., idioms: "fix somebody with a look, stare, gaze, etc.: to look directly at somebody for a long time"

- "He fixed her with an angry stare."

6. Examples from other dictionaries exhibiting the construction:

- "To glare is to fix another with a hard, piercing stare" (https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=gaze)

- "Aron Nimzowitsch, a contemporary of Alekhine’s, would smoke a noxious cigar and fix his opponent with a dread stare." (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/nimzowitsch)

[gdds]

(part 3/3)

Examples from British newspapers:

The Times

- She fixed me with a beady gaze, allowed a dramatic pause, then replied slowly and carefully: “I’m afraid I think I do”. (https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/boris-johnson-s...)

- Pairs of stretching lions fix you with a goggling gaze, licking their lips and unsheathing their shining claws. (https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/englands-embr...)

- Neil Armstrong fixed her with a steady gaze. (https://www.thetimes.com/article/a-robot-from-the-dark-side-...)

Metro

- She fixes him with a lustful, narrow-eyed stare as they move together. (https://metro.co.uk/2024/06/15/bridgerton-fans-can-make-mirr...)

- My GP fixed me with a steely stare as she uttered the worst sentence imaginable: ‘Have you tried running?’ (https://metro.co.uk/2024/02/15/doctor-prescribed-running-dep...)

- Any time I attempted to say anything complimentary to Lemmy to his face, he would fix me with a kind of amused, contemptuous stare. (https://metro.co.uk/2016/01/01/queens-brian-may-calls-lemmy-...)

Daily Mail

- She would fix me with a regal stare and say, "Do I look all right?" (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1231133/How-fines...)

- The catwalk queen fixed the camera with a sultry gaze as she sipped her drink (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5059909/Kate-M...)

- All the while he fixes me with a similarly powerful gaze, which makes me rather nervous. (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-97398/Why-celebri...)

The Sun

- Footage shows the Government’s deputy chief whip Christopher Pincher fixing the Speaker with a firm stare before calling him a “bully” three times after he lectured Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom over procedure. (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8158041/government-whip-caught...)

- Tyra Banks fixes the camera with a sultry gaze in modelling snap (https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/3878793/americas-got-t...)

- FLAME-haired model Emily Deyt-Aysage shows her mettle by fixing the camera with a steely gaze. (https://iframe.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/29013053/emily-deyt...)

Examples from books:

- Tenga fixed him with a pointed gaze, as if the question made him doubt Eragon's intelligence. (https://www.google.com/books/edition/Brisingr_Or_The_Seven_P...)

- She sounded slightly strangled until she paused to clear her throat, then fixed him with a steady, determined gaze. (https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lord_of_Chaos/owkKhVCq6...)

- She fixed him with a serious gaze. (https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Pawnbroker/11WUYsOt...)

[gdds]

(part 2/3)

Examples from American newspapers:

New York Times

- He fixed me with a hard gaze and said: "I just gave you a $5,000 raise. Now tell me what happened." (https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/opinion/12friedman.html)

- She fixed him with a steely gaze and finished him off with a single line: "You, sir, are a cad." (https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/13/magazine/about-men-unhand...)

- Ms. Smith fixed him with a stony gaze. (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/health/navajo-children-cu...)

Washington Post

- "Another student fixed his sweatsuit with a stinging gaze." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/27/...)

- "She fixed her interviewer with a direct gaze and rejected the idea that she is pursuing policies that are detrimental to public safety." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/26/rachael-rol...)

- "Peskov was chatting over coffee here in Sochi with a few reporters, and he fixed them with a true-believer gaze as he described the Russia that will be revealed — especially to Americans viewing the world through Cold War-frosted glasses — as the flags are raised for the Opening Ceremonies on Feb. 7, 2014." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-expects-o...)

Wall Street Journal

- In an early scene in "To Have and Have Not" she fixed Mr. Bogart with a smoldering gaze that became known as "the Look." (https://www.wsj.com/articles/lauren-bacall-dies-at-age-89-14...)

- As he fixes the camera with a steady gaze, you can see the magnetic mystic he must have been. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303325204579465...)

- The King fixed me with a serious look. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-american-ninja-warrior-the-f...)

USA Today

- She fixed me with a hard look and shot back with a slap at (Geraldine) Ferraro. (in a quote: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/columnists/rochelle-rile...)

- In the middle of dialogue, he turned, fixed them with a square stare and said, “Now pay attention to the play.” (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/10/15/nh-e...)

- After setting the tone for their set with explosive performances of "Brenden Lechner" and "Moldy Cannoli" while wrapping the mike around his neck like a young Iggy Pop while fixing the crowd with a confrontational blank stare, Robbie Pfeffer announced, "We are Playboy Manbaby. Not to be confused with the drum circle." (https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/03/2...)

[SideburnsOfDoom]

Thank you, I respect the effort put into this. The free time and skills that I did not have.

I'm at this point more interested the Psychology of the readers who insisted "I don't know the phrase, and drew a blank, therefor it's wrong, broken, bad writing, how dare they not write for me". And refuse to listen to the contrary, indeed "refute" it (hah).

It's something - entitled? Arrogant? Leaning into ignorance? Fixed mindset? Whatever it is, it's best viewed at a distance, like car crash.

[bmacho]

> I'm at this more interested the Psychology of the readers

Sure.

In my head it looked like this:

   "I don't think this is an idiom" (meaning that either it is not an idiom or I am unfamiliar)
   "I am an authority on English, and it is an idiom"
   "Nah."
   "Here are the dictionaries" 
   "It is not in the dictionaries" 
   "Google it"
   "That's lazy, but sure. It is not on the internet"
   "Here, it is in a pdf used in education"
   "Fine"

I don't think that I am the arrogant or entitled one here. Also I don't understand why are you coming after me after this concluded. This, and your other comment. I very much don't like it.