wink Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat)
    instant; blink of an eye; flash; New York minute; twinkling; jiffy; heartbeat; split second; trice.
    • if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash
  2. noun closing one eye quickly as a signal
  3. noun a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly
    nictitation; winking; eye blink; nictation; blinking; blink.
  4. verb signal by winking
    • She winked at him
  5. verb gleam or glow intermittently
    winkle; flash; twinkle; blink.
    • The lights were flashing
  6. verb briefly shut the eyes
    nictitate; nictate; blink.
    • The TV announcer never seems to blink
  7. verb force to go away by blinking
    blink away; blink.
    • blink away tears

WordNet

Wink intransitive verb
Etymology
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, wanchn to waver, G. wanken, and perhaps to E. weak; cf. AS. wincel a corner. Cf. Wench, Wince, v. i.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Winked ; present participle & verbal noun Winking
Definitions
  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.
Wink transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To cause (the eyes) to wink.Colloq.
Wink noun
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913