expression, ichidan verb
sting one's eyes; make one's eyes smart
Used when smoke, onions, bright light, or other irritants cause a sharp, painful sensation in the eyes.
玉ねぎを切ると目に染みる。
Cutting onions makes my eyes sting.
煙が目に染みて涙が出た。
The smoke stung my eyes and made me tear up.
Standard kanji spelling using 染みる for 'to sting/smart'.
Kana spelling is common and avoids potential confusion with other 染みる readings.
染みる alone can mean 'to soak in' or 'to sting' (cold, pain). 目に染みる is a fixed expression specifically for eye irritation.
Phrase composed of 目 (eye) + に (particle) + 染みる (to sting, to soak in). The verb 染みる originally means 'to permeate' or 'to soak in', and by extension describes a sharp sensation that penetrates.