Adjacent Words

Wink definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WINK, v.i. [G. Wink and wince are radically one word.]
1. To shut the eyes; to close the eyelids.
They are not blind, but they wink.
2. To close and open the eyelids.
3. To give a hint by a motion of the eyelids.
Wink at the footman to leave him without a plate.
4. To close the eyelids and exclude the light.
Or wink as cowards and afraid.
5. To be dim; as a winking light.
To wink at, to connive at; to seem not to see; to tolerate; to overlook, as something not perfectly agreeable; as, to wink at faults.
WINK, n.
1. The act of closing the eyelids. I lay awake, and could not sleep a wink.
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink.
2. A hint given by shutting the eye with a significant cast.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English wincian; akin to Old High German winchan to stagger, wink and perhaps to Latin vacillare to sway, Sanskrit vańcati he goes crookedly Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. to shut one eye briefly as a signal or in teasing 2. to close and open the eyelids quickly 3. to avoid seeing or noting something — usually used with at 4. to gleam or flash intermittently ; twinkle <her glasses winking in the sunlight — Harper Lee> 5. a. to come to an end — usually used with out b. to stop shining — usually used with out 6. to signal a message with a light transitive verb 1. to cause to open and shut 2. to affect or influence by or as if by blinking the eyes II. noun Date: 14th century 1. a brief period of sleep ; nap <catching a wink> 2. a. a hint or sign given by winking b. an act of winking 3. the time of a wink ; instant <quick as a wink> 4. a flicker of the eyelids ; blink

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 a tr. close and open (one eye or both eyes) quickly. b intr. close and open an eye. 2 intr. (often foll. by at) wink one eye as a signal of friendship or greeting or to convey a message to a person. 3 intr. (of a light etc.) twinkle; shine or flash intermittently. --n. 1 the act or an instance of winking, esp. as a signal etc. 2 colloq. a brief moment of sleep (didn't sleep a wink). Phrases and idioms: as easy as winking colloq. very easy. in a wink very quickly. wink at 1 purposely avoid seeing; pretend not to notice. 2 connive at (a wrongdoing etc.). Etymology: OE wincian f. Gmc: cf. WINCE(1), WINCH

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wink 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).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wink 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(winks, winking, winked) 1. When you wink at someone, you look towards them and close one eye very briefly, usually as a signal that something is a joke or a secret. Brian winked at his bride-to-be... VERB: V at n • Wink is also a noun. I gave her a wink. N-COUNT: usu sing 2. If you say that you did not sleep a wink or did not get a wink of sleep, you mean that you tried to go to sleep but could not. (INFORMAL) I didn't get a wink of sleep on the aeroplane. PHRASE: V inflects

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

wink (razam, literally, "to roll the eyes"): The act or habit of winking was evidently considered to be evil both in its motives and in its results. The idea of its facetiousness, prevalent in our day, is nowhere apparent in the Scriptures. It is mentioned frequently, but is always associated with sin, in the Old Testament especially in the sense of conceit, pride, and rebellion against God: "Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, that thou turnest thy spirit against God" (Job 15:12,13 the King James Version). So also Ps 35:19: "Neither let them wink with the eye that hate roe without a cause." "A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with froward mouth. He winketh with his eyes," etc. (Pr 6:12,13 the King James Version). "He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow" (Pr 10:10). See Watkinson, Education of the Heart, "Ethics of Gesture," 194 ff.

In the New Testament the word is used to express the longsuffering patience and forgiveness of God toward erring Israel: "And the times of this ignorance God winked at" (Ac 17:30 the King James Version, hupereidon, "overlooked," and so translated in the Revised Version (British and American); compare The Wisdom of Solomon 11:23; Ecclesiasticus 30:11). The use of "winked" in this connection would in our day, of course, be considered in bad taste, if not actually irreverent, but it is an excellent example of the colloquialism of the King James Version.

Arthur Walwyn Evans

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Blink, nictate.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To tip one the wink; to give a signal by winking the eye.

Moby Thesaurus

Roman candle, aid to navigation, alarm, amber light, balefire, bat, bat the eyes, beacon, beacon fire, beat the drum, bell, bell buoy, blanket drill, blink, blinker, blue peter, breath, broad hint, buoy, cast, cat nap, caution light, clue, coup, crack, cue, dash, dip, exchange colors, flag, flag down, flare, flash, flutter, fog bell, fog signal, fog whistle, foghorn, forty winks, gentle hint, gesture, give a signal, give the nod, glance, glimmer, glimmering, glimpse, go light, gong buoy, green light, hail, hail and speak, half a jiffy, half a mo, half a second, half a shake, half an eye, half-mast, heliograph, high sign, hint, hoist a banner, implication, index, indication, inkling, innuendo, insinuation, instant, international alphabet flag, international numeral pennant, intimation, jiff, jiffy, kick, leer, look, make a sign, marker beacon, microsecond, millisecond, minute, moment, nap, nictitate, nod, nudge, parachute flare, peek, peep, pilot flag, poke, police whistle, prompt, quarantine flag, quick sight, radio beacon, raise a cry, rapid glance, red flag, red light, rocket, sailing aid, salute, scent, sec, second, semaphore, semaphore flag, semaphore telegraph, shade, shake, siesta, sign, signal, signal beacon, signal bell, signal fire, signal flag, signal gong, signal gun, signal lamp, signal light, signal mast, signal post, signal rocket, signal shot, signal siren, signal tower, signalize, slant, smack, snooze, sound an alarm, sound the trumpet, soupcon, spar buoy, speak, split second, spoor, spot of sleep, squinch, squint, squiz, stop light, stroke, suggestion, suspicion, symptom, telltale, the nod, the wink, tick, touch, trace, track, traffic light, traffic signal, trice, twink, twinkle, twinkling, twitch, two shakes, unfurl a flag, watch fire, wave, wave a flag, wave the hand, whisper, white flag, wigwag, wigwag flag, wink of sleep, yellow flag