blink

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to briefly shut the eyes

   The TV announcer never seems to blink.

2. 2
   verb

   to force to go away by blinking

   At the end of the play, I had to blink away tears.

3. 3
   verb

   to gleam or glow intermittently

   The light on the computer blinks when it is in sleep mode.

4. 4
   verb

   To close and reopen both eyes quickly.

   The loser in the staring game is the person who blinks first.

5. 5
   verb

   To flash on and off at regular intervals.

   The blinking text on the screen was distracting.

6. 6
   verb

   To perform the smallest action that could solicit a response.

   All the waiters in your grand cafe / Leave their tables when you blink.

7. 7
   verb

   To have the slightest doubt, hesitation or remorse.

   The soldier shot the intruders without so much as blinking.

8. 8
   verb

   To shut the eyes to (something); to evade, ignore.

   I have no wish to blink or extenuate the serious nature of the difficulty arising from this discrepancy of dates.

Etymology

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.