wink
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wink¹
- /ˈwɪŋk/
- [ˈwɪŋk]
Rhymes with -ɪŋk
Where it comes from
From Middle English wynken, from Old English wincian (“to wink, make a sign, close the eyes, blink”, weak verb), from Proto-West Germanic *winkōn (“to close one's eyes”), from Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”). Cognate with Middle Low German winken (“to blink, wink”), German winken (“to nod, beckon, make a sign”). Related also to Saterland Frisian wäänke, Dutch wenken (“to beckon, motion”), Latin vacillare (“sway”), Lithuanian véngti (“to swerve, avoid”), Albanian vang (“tire, felloe”), Sanskrit वङ्गति (vaṅgati, “(he, she) limps”), French guigner (“to eye, sneak a look at”).
verb winks · winking · winked
- To close one's eyes in sleep. When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see, For all the day they view things unrespected; But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee, And darkly bright are bright in dark directed.
- To close one's eyes. Art thou ashamed to kiss? then wink again, And I will wink; so shall the day seem night […]
-
Usually followed by at: to look the other way, to turn a blind eye.
Some trot about to bear false witness, and say anything for money; and though judges know of it, yet for a bribe they wink at it, and suffer false contracts to prevail against equity.
Similar: connive, shut one's eyes
- To close one's eyes quickly and involuntarily; to blink. The pipes began to be puffed in a silence which had an air of severity; the more important customers, who drank spirits and sat nearest the fire, staring at each other as if a bet were depending on the first man who ‘’’winked’’’ […]
- To blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion, usually with an implication of conspiracy. (When transitive, the object may be the eye being winked, or the message being conveyed.) He winked at me. She winked her eye. He winked his assent.
- To gleam fitfully or intermittently; to twinkle; to flicker. Down in the bottoms the sycamore and cottonwood are casting off their yellowing leaves; but the white oak will cling to her gorgeous finery till the blizzard comes shrieking up the gulch to wrest it from her, or until the winking prairie-fire leaps among her branches, and mounting upward to the high
Similar: nictitate
noun winks
- An act of winking (a blinking of only one eye), or a message sent by winking.
- A brief period of sleep; especially forty winks. I couldn't bear to leave him where he is. I shouldn't sleep a wink for thinking of him.
- A brief time; an instant.
- The smallest possible amount. It’s many’s the time I shot the selfsame rifiie before, and it’s many ’s the time after, but niver a wink of the same have I seen. 'T was the sight of a lifetime.
- A subtle allusion. The film includes a wink to wartime rationing.
wink²
- /ˈwɪŋk/
- [ˈwɪŋk]
Rhymes with -ɪŋk
Where it comes from
Clipping of tiddlywink.
noun winks
-
Synonym of tiddlywink (“small disc used in the game of tiddlywinks”).
Similar: tiddlywink
wink³
- /ˈwɪŋk/
- [ˈwɪŋk]
Rhymes with -ɪŋk
Where it comes from
Clipping of periwinkle.
noun winks
-
Synonym of periwinkle (“type of mollusk”).
“I buy my winks,” said one, “at Billingsgate, at 3s. and 4s. the wash. A wash is about a bushel. […]”
Similar: periwinkle
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: blink, nictitate, nictate, twinkle, twinkling, flash, trice, jiffy, instant, split second, winkle, blink away, blinking, glance, flicker, flickering
verb
Similar: nictitate
Translations
Every language
verb to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion
| Español | guiñar, picar el ojo, cucar, bizquear |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 눈을 깜빡이다 nun-eul kkamppagida |
| 日本語 | 瞬く matataku |
| 中文 | 眨眼 zhǎyǎn, 眨眼睛 zhǎ yǎnjīng, 眨 zhǎ |
| हिन्दी | आँख मारना ā̃kh mārnā |
| Português | piscar (o olho) |
| Français | cligner de l’œil, faire un clin d'œil |
| Deutsch | zuzwinkern, zwinkern |
| Italiano | ammiccare, strizzare l'occhio, fare l'occhiolino, biluxare |
| Ελληνικά | κλείνω το μάτι kleíno to máti |
| Română | face cu ochiul |
| Русский | подми́гивать podmígivatʹ, подмигну́ть podmignútʹ, мига́ть migátʹ, подма́ргивать podmárgivatʹ, подморгну́ть podmorgnútʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | đá lông nheo, nháy mắt |
| العربية | غَمَزَ ḡamaza |
verb to twinkle
| Русский | мерца́ть mercátʹ |
|---|
noun blink of one eye
| Español | guiño, guiñada |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 윙크 wingkeu |
| 日本語 | ウインク uinku |
| Português | piscada |
| Français | clin d'œil |
| Deutsch | Augenzwinkern |
| Italiano | ammiccamento, nittitazione, batter d'occhio |
| Română | clipire |
| Русский | подми́гивание podmígivanije, подма́ргивание podmárgivanije |
| العربية | غَمْزَة ḡamza |
| עברית | קְרִיצָה qritzá |
noun brief period of sleep — see also forty winks
| Deutsch | eine Mütze Schlaf (voll), Nickerchen |
|---|
noun smallest possible amount
| Deutsch | Fitzelchen, Zipfel |
|---|
noun subtle allusion
| Deutsch | Wink, Fingerzeig, Andeutung |
|---|
Talk about this word "wink." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wink. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. wink. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wink "wink." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wink.Cite this
@misc{wink_2026,
title = {wink},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wink},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
