'paying attention' definitions:
Definition of 'paying attention'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Taking heed; giving close and thoughtful attention; "heedful of the warnings"; "so heedful a writer"; "heedful of what they were doing" [syn: heedful, attentive, thoughtful, paying attention] [ant: heedless, unheeding]
noun
Paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people); "his attentiveness to her wishes"; "he spends without heed to the consequences" [syn: attentiveness, heed, regard, paying attention] [ant: heedlessness, inattentiveness]