Definition of WINK

wink

Plural: winks

Noun

  • a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat)
  • closing one eye quickly as a signal
  • a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly
  • An act of winking (a blinking of only one eye), or a message sent by winking.
  • A brief period of sleep; especially forty winks.
  • A brief time; an instant.
  • The smallest possible amount.
  • A subtle allusion.
  • Synonym of tiddlywink (“small disc used in the game of tiddlywinks”).
  • Synonym of periwinkle (“type of mollusk”).

Verb

Verb Forms: winked, winking, winks

  • To close and open one eye quickly as a signal.
  • signal by winking
    • "She winked at him"
  • gleam or glow intermittently
  • briefly shut the eyes
  • force to go away by blinking
  • To close one's eyes in sleep.
  • To close one's eyes.
  • Usually followed by at: to look the other way, to turn a blind eye.
  • To close one's eyes quickly and involuntarily; to blink.
  • 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.)
  • To gleam fitfully or intermitently; to twinkle; to flicker.

Examples

  • He gave a quick WINK to his partner across the table after playing a tricky word in Scrabble.
  • He winked at me. She winked her eye. He winked his assent.
  • The film includes a wink to wartime rationing.

Origin / Etymology

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”).

Synonyms

blink, blink away, blink of an eye, blinking, eye blink, flash, heartbeat, instant, jiffy, New York minute, nictate, nictation, nictitate, nictitation, split second, trice, twinkle, twinkling, winking, winkle, ;), ;-), connive, periwinkle, shut one's eyes, tiddlywink, 😉

Scrabble Score: 11

wink: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
wink: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
wink: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 12

wink: valid Words With Friends Word