wink

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To close and open one eye quickly as a friendly or secret signal.

   He winked at me to show he was only joking.

2. 2
   noun

   A quick closing of one eye as a signal.

   She gave him a wink across the room.

3. 3
   verb

   To deliberately ignore something wrong, usually with 'at'.

   The managers winked at the rule-breaking for years.

4. 4
   verb

   Of a light: to shine on and off; to flicker.

   The lights of the town winked in the distance.

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 a…

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