Definitions for: Wink


[n] a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly
[n] closing one eye quickly as a signal
[n] a very short time (as the time it takes to blink once); "if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash"
[v] briefly shut the eyes; "The TV announcer never seems to blink"
[v] signal by winking; "She winked at him"
[v] force to go away by blinking; "blink away tears"
[v] gleam or glow intermittently; "The lights were flashing"



Webster (1913) Definition: Wink, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Winked; p. pr. & vb. n.
Winking.] [OE. winken, AS. wincian; akin to D. wenken, G.
winken to wink, nod, beckon, OHG. winchan, Sw. vinka, Dan.
vinke, AS. wancol wavering, OHG. wanchal wavering, wanch?n to
waver, G. wanken, and perhaps to E. weak; cf. AS. wincel a
corner. Cf. Wench, Wince, v. i.]
1. To nod; to sleep; to nap. [Obs.] ``Although I wake or
wink.'' --Chaucer.

2. To shut the eyes quickly; to close the eyelids with a
quick motion.

He must wink, so loud he would cry. --Chaucer.

And I will wink, so shall the day seem night.
--Shak.

They are not blind, but they wink. --Tillotson.

3. To close and open the eyelids quickly; to nictitate; to
blink.

A baby of some three months old, who winked, and
turned aside its little face from the too vivid
light of day. --Hawthorne.

4. To give a hint by a motion of the eyelids, often those of
one eye only.

Wink at the footman to leave him without a plate.
--Swift.

5. To avoid taking notice, as if by shutting the eyes; to
connive at anything; to be tolerant; -- generally with at.

The times of this ignorance God winked at. --Acts
xvii. 30.

And yet, as though he knew it not, His knowledge
winks, and lets his humors reign. --Herbert.

Obstinacy can not be winked at, but must be subdued.
--Locke.

6. To be dim and flicker; as, the light winks.

Winking monkey (Zo["o]l.), the white-nosed monkey
(Cersopithecus nictitans).


Wink, v. t.
To cause (the eyes) to wink.[Colloq.]


Wink, n.
1. The act of closing, or closing and opening, the eyelids
quickly; hence, the time necessary for such an act; a
moment.

I have not slept one wink. --Shak.

I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink. --Donne.

2. A hint given by shutting the eye with a significant cast.
--Sir. P. Sidney.

The stockjobber thus from Change Alley goes down,
And tips you, the freeman, a wink. --Swift.

Synonyms: blink, blink, blink, blink away, blink of an eye, blinking, eye blink, flash, flash, instant, jiffy, New York minute, nictate, nictation, nictitate, nictitation, split second, trice, twinkle, twinkling, winking, winkle

See Also: act involuntarily, act reflexively, bat, bit, conquer, curb, emit light, facial expression, facial gesture, flick, flicker, flutter, gesticulate, gesture, inborn reflex, inhibit, innate reflex, instinctive reflex, minute, moment, motion, palpebrate, palpebration, physiological reaction, radiate, reflex, second, stamp down, subdue, suppress, unconditioned reflex

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