blink

 
Pronunciation: /blɪŋk/

verb

[no object]
  • 1shut and open the eyes quickly: I blinked in astonishment [with object]: he blinked his eyes nervously she blinked away her tears
  • [with object] (blink something back) try to control or prevent tears by blinking: Elizabeth blinked back tears
  • [usually with negative] (blink at) react to (something) with surprise or disapproval: he doesn’t blink at the unsavoury aspects of his subject
  • back down from a confrontation: the government blinked only after losing 46 of the first 48 hearings
  • 2(of a light) flash on and off in a regular or intermittent way: the car’s right-hand indicator was blinking

noun

  • 1an act of shutting and opening the eyes very quickly: he was observing her every blink
  • a moment’s hesitation: Feargal would have given her all this without a blink
  • 2a momentary gleam of light: out on the marshes there was a blink of light

Phrases

in the blink of an eye (or in a blink)

very quickly: software that would do lots of boring calculations in the blink of an eye

not blink an eye

show no reaction.

on the blink

informal (of a machine) not working properly; out of order: the computer’s on the blink

Origin:

Middle English: from blenk, Scots variant of blench1, reinforced by Middle Dutch blinken 'to shine'. Early senses included 'deceive', 'flinch' (compare with blench1), and also 'open the eyes after sleep': hence blink (sense 1 of the verb) (mid 16th century)