I need help translating as I'm Confused with かのような

Question

So I'm trying to translate a sentence that contains the following hiragana at the end of the first part:

かのような

and I'm not sure if its 'kano - particle' followed by 'like/similar to', or if かのような means "as if" according to this link: how to translate 動詞+かのような+名詞?

Edit: for contextual purposes, the sentence that came before the one I need help with is the following.

女の方は黙{だま}っている.

Which I translated as: 'The woman is silent.'

The full sentence I'm trying to translate is

品定めをするかのような, 射{い}貫{ね}くような眼差{まなざ}しをこちらに向けながら.

I roughly translated the second part:

射{い}貫{ね}くような眼差{まなざ}しをこちらに向けながら

as

'to shoot a penetrating, pointed gaze this way/at me."

but its the first part I'm having much trouble with.

I know that 品定め means "evaluate", and that をする is either a wo/o particle followed by する (which can mean a lot of things but I'm going with 'to judge as being/to do') or some odd verb-no-particle combination of 'を' & 'する', but the rest of the translation depends on what かのような means in the context of this sentence.

Answer 1

I'm not sure if its 'kano - particle' followed by 'like/similar to', or if かのような means "as if" according to this link:

Not sure what you mean by 'kano - particle' followed by 'like/similar to'. There is only one usage to 「Verb + かのような」 and that is to form a metaphorical expression or simile as I stated in the linked Q & A.

「品定{しなさだ}めをするかのような, 射{い}貫{ぬ}くような眼差{まなざ}しをこちらに向{む}けながら」

「品定めをするかのような」 modifies 「眼差し」 here (and 「射貫くような」 also modifies 「眼差し」).

「品定めをする」(= "to size someone up") is only what the speaker feels that the other personis doing. The speaker never knows if that is the actual intention of the other person. Hence, the use of 「～～かのような」.

"while gazing in my direction as if to size me up or to shoot me"