Wiktionary

blink

See also: Blink and BLINK

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English blynken, blenken, from Old English blincan (suggested by causative verb blenċan (“to deceive”); > English blench), from Proto-Germanic *blinkaną, a variant of *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”).

Cognate with Dutch blinken (“to glitter, shine”), German blinken (“to flash, blink”), Danish blinke (“to flash, twinkle, wink, blink”), Swedish blinka (“to flash, blink, twinkle, wink, blink”). Related to blank, blick, blike, bleak.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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blink (third-person singular simple present blinks, present participle blinking, simple past and past participle blinked)

 
Example of a blinking human eye (slow-motion)
  1. (intransitive) To close and reopen both eyes quickly.
    The loser in the staring game is the person who blinks first.
    1. (transitive) To close and reopen one's eyes to remove (something) from on or around the eyes.
      She blinked her tears away.
    2. To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye.
    3. To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes.
    4. To shine, especially with intermittent light; to twinkle; to flicker; to glimmer, as a lamp.
    5. (Geordie, obsolete) To glance.
      • 1850, J. P. Robson, editor, Songs of the bards of the Tyne; or, A choice selection of original songs chiefly in the Newcastle dialect., page 485:
        Now exile is over, I'll fly to the north,
        The home of my childhood, the place of my birth;
        O the transports of gladness that over me reign,
        To blink upon canny Newcastle again!
  2. To flash on and off at regular intervals.
    The blinking text on the screen was distracting.
    1. To flash headlights on a car at.
      An urban legend claims that gang members will attack anyone who blinks them.
    2. To send a signal with a lighting device.
      Don't come to the door until I blink twice.
  3. (hyperbolic) To perform the smallest action that could solicit a response.
    • 1980, Billy Joel, “Don't Ask Me Why”, in Glass Houses, Columbia Records:
      All the waiters in your grand cafe / Leave their tables when you blink.
  4. (in negative constructions) To have the slightest doubt, hesitation or remorse.
    The soldier shot the intruders without so much as blinking.
  5. (transitive) To shut out of sight; to evade; to shirk.
    to blink the question
    • 1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 3, page 199:
      I have no wish to blink or extenuate the serious nature of the difficulty arising from this discrepancy of dates.
  6. To turn slightly sour, or blinky, as beer, milk, etc.
  7. (science fiction, video games) To teleport, mostly for short distances.

Synonyms

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  • (close and open both eyes quickly): nictitate

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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blink (countable and uncountable, plural blinks)

  1. The act of quickly closing both eyes and opening them again.
  2. (figuratively) The time needed to close and reopen one's eyes.
  3. (computing) A text formatting feature that causes text to disappear and reappear as a form of visual emphasis.
    • 2007, Cheryl D. Wise, Foundations of Microsoft Expression Web: The Basics and Beyond, page 150:
      I can think of no good reason to use blink because blinking text and images are annoying, they mark the creator as an amateur, and they have poor browser support.
  4. A glimpse or glance.
    • 1612–1626, [Joseph Hall], “(please specify the page)”, in [Contemplations vpon the Principall Passages of the Holy Storie], volumes (please specify |volume=II, V, or VI), London, →OCLC:
      This is the first blink that ever I had of him.
  5. (UK, dialect) gleam; glimmer; sparkle
  6. (nautical) The dazzling whiteness about the horizon caused by the reflection of light from fields of ice at sea; iceblink
  7. (sports, in the plural) Boughs cast where deer are to pass, in order to turn or check them.
  8. (video games) An ability that allows teleporting, mostly for short distances

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Danish

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Verb

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blink

  1. imperative of blinke

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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blink

  1. inflection of blinken:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

German

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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blink

  1. singular imperative of blinken
  2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of blinken

Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

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From the verb blinke.

Noun

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blink m (definite singular blinken, indefinite plural blinker, definite plural blinkene)

  1. a target, bullseye
    treffe midt i blinken ― hit the bullseye

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Noun

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blink n

  1. flash, glimpse

Derived terms

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See also

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Verb

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blink

  1. imperative of blinke

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology

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From the verb blinke.

Noun

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blink m (definite singular blinken, indefinite plural blinkar, definite plural blinkane)

  1. a target, bullseye

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Verb

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blink

  1. imperative of blinka

References

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Swedish

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Noun

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blink c

  1. a blink, a flash
    Synonym: blinkning
    i ett blink
    in the blink of an eye / in a flash

Declension

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Declension of blink
nominative genitive
singular indefinite blink blinks
definite blinken blinkens
plural indefinite blinkar blinkars
definite blinkarna blinkarnas

Noun

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blink n

  1. flashing, blinking
    Synonym: blinkande

Declension

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Declension of blink
nominative genitive
singular indefinite blink blinks
definite blinket blinkets
plural indefinite — —
definite — —
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References

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