A match cut is two shots spliced together to provide either visual or metaphorical continuity. These cuts can occur within a scene or between two scenes. Eyeline matching is a specific type of match cut that first shows a character looking off-screen and follows with a shot of the object of his attention.
Match cuts can provide realism to a film. Within a scene, the cut will make visual sense to the viewer. A match cut can also link ideas using the elements of the two shots. For instance, a graphic match uses similar visual elements between two shots to make a comparison.
Pedia View cites the famous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" as a match cut. After the shot of blood draining in the tub, a shot of the victim's eye is shown, indicating the woman's death. Another example is from "2001: A Space Odyssey," in which an ape discovering the use of a bone as a tool is contrasted with a space vehicle as a modern tool of man.