blink
(blĭngk)v. blinked, blink·ing, blinks
v.intr.
1. To close and open one or both of the eyes rapidly.
2. To look in astonishment or disbelief, typically with the eyes blinking: stood blinking at the money they found in the drawer; blinked at the results of the experiment.
3. To look through half-closed eyes, as in a bright glare; squint: blinked at the page trying to make out the letters.
4. To give off light with intermittent gleams; flash on and off: "blazing neon signs, brilliant shop windows, decorations blinking across the fronts of half-finished tower blocks" (Jess Row).
5. To pretend to be ignorant of; disregard or condone: a mayor who refused to blink at corruption.
6. To waver or back down, as in a contest of wills: "This was the first genuine, direct confrontation between this administration and the Soviets. It was the U.S.A. that blinked" (Zbigniew Brzezinski).
v.tr.
1. To cause to blink: blinked his eyes to clear his vision.
2. To hold back or remove from the eyes by blinking: blinked back the tears.
3. To refuse to recognize or face: blink ugly facts.
4. To transmit (a message) with a flashing light.
n.
Idioms: 1. The act or an instance of rapidly closing and opening the eyes or an eye.
2. An instant: I'll be back in a blink.
3. Scots A quick look or glimpse; a glance.
4. A flash of light; a twinkle.
5. See iceblink.
in the blink of an eye
Very quickly.
on the blink
Out of working order.
without blinking an eye
Without showing any reaction.
[Probably Middle English blinken, to move suddenly, variant of blenchen; see blench1.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
blinks
(blɪŋks)n
(Plants) (functioning as singular) a small temperate portulacaceous plant, Montia fontana with small white flowers
[C19: from blink, because the flowers do not fully open and thus seem to blink at the light]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
| Noun | 1. |  blinks - small Indian lettuce of northern regionsIndian lettuce - a plant of the genus Montia having edible pleasant-tasting leaves |
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