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”).
Meanings
An act of winking (a blinking of only one eye), or a message sent by winking.
A brief period of sleep; especially forty winks.
Couldn't sleep a wink last night / Oh how I'd love to hold you tight 1973, Bryan Ferry, “Pyjamarama”, performed by Roxy Music:
I shan't sleep a wink. 1953, Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter, John Dighton, Roman Holiday, spoken by Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn):
I couldn't bear to leave him where he is. I shouldn't sleep a wink for thinking of him. 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 25”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
A brief time; an instant.
The smallest possible amount.
It’s many’s the time I shot the selfsame rifiie before, and it’s many ’s the time after, but niver a wink of the same have I seen. 'T was the sight of a lifetime. 1899, Jack London, "The Men of Forty-Nine: 'Malemute Kid" Deals with a Duel," Overland Monthly, Vol. XXXIII, second series
lv mirkšķināšana (blink of one eye) · fa چشمک (blink of one eye) · fi vihjaus (subtle allusion) · fi silmänisku (blink of one eye) · arc ܪܦܦܐ (blink of one eye) · ru подма́ргивание (blink of one eye) · arc רפפא (blink of one eye) · sh ми̑г (blink of one eye) · fi silmänräpäys (brief time, instant) · sh mȋg (blink of one eye) · es guiño (blink of one eye) · gd priobadh (brief time, instant) · pt piscada (blink of one eye) · fi silmällinen (brief period of sleep — see also forty winks) · nl knipoog (blink of one eye) · de eine Mütze Schlaf (voll) (brief period of sleep — see also forty winks) · io palpebrago (blink of one eye) · arc רפפא (brief time, instant) · gd caogadh (blink of one eye) · de Nickerchen (brief period of sleep — see also forty winks) · wa clignete (blink of one eye) · hu szemhunyásnyi (brief time, instant) · ru подми́гивание (blink of one eye) · ro clipă (brief time, instant) · ja ウインク (blink of one eye) · de Andeutung (subtle allusion) · de Fitzelchen (smallest possible amount) · ak anibɔ (blink of one eye) · acw غمزة (blink of one eye) · de Augenblick (brief time, instant) · nrf clyîn dg'yi (blink of one eye) · it nittitazione (blink of one eye) · it guizzo (brief time, instant) · pl oczko (subtle allusion) · it ammiccamento (blink of one eye) · it lampo (brief time, instant) · hu szempillantás (brief time, instant) · gd priobadh (blink of one eye) · ar غَمْزَة (blink of one eye) · fi vilaus (smallest possible amount) · de Fingerzeig (subtle allusion) · nl ogenblik (brief time, instant) · arc ܪܦܦܐ (brief time, instant) · tr göz kırpma (blink of one eye) · it attimo (brief time, instant) · it batter d'occhio (blink of one eye) · de Augenzwinkern (blink of one eye) · ko 윙크 (blink of one eye) · sk žmurknutie (blink of one eye) · te రెప్పపాటు (blink of one eye) · ro clipire (blink of one eye) · fr clin d'œil (blink of one eye) · tl pagkindat (blink of one eye) · de Zipfel (smallest possible amount) · nrf clyîn (blink of one eye) · es guiñada (blink of one eye) · ary غمزة (blink of one eye) · he קְרִיצָה (blink of one eye) · de Wink (subtle allusion) · lv pamirkšķināšana (blink of one eye) · te రెప్పపాటు (brief time, instant) · is blikk (blink of one eye) · lv acumirklis (brief time, instant) · ru миг (brief time, instant) · lv mirklis (brief time, instant) · cs mrknutí (blink of one eye)
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”).
Meanings
(intransitive, obsolete) To close one's eyes in sleep.
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright are bright in dark directed. 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 43”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
(intransitive, obsolete) To close one's eyes.
Art thou ashamed to kiss? then wink again,
And I will wink; so shall the day seem night […] 1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC:
I kept my eyes shut, after once glancing at him; and, I protest, I thought I saw him still, though I winked as close as ever I could. 1816, The Black Dwarf, Walter Scott, Chapter the Fifth:
(archaic, intransitive) Usually followed by at: to look the other way, to turn a blind eye.
For although the Queen had ordered a little Equipage of all things neceſſary while I was in her Service, yet my Ideas were wholly taken up with what I ſaw on every ſide of me, and winked at my own Littleneſs as People do at their own Faults. 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The King and Queen Make a Progress to the Frontiers. The Author Attends Them. The Manner in which He Leaves the Country Very Particularly Related. He Returns to England.”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag), pages 306–307:
Therefore the scripture represents wicked men as without understanding […] they are not blind; but they wink; […] though they know God, yet they do not glorify him as God […] 1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], London: […] B. Aylmer, […]; [a]nd W. Rogers, […], published 1696, →OCLC:
But whenever obstinacy, which is an open defiance, appears, that cannot be winked at, or neglected, but must, in the first instance, be subdued and mastered; only care must be had, that we mistake not ; and we must be sure it is obstinacy, and nothing else. 1693, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, § 79:
But man doth know / The ſpring, whence all things flow: / And yet, as though he knew it not, / His knowledge winks, and lets his humours reigne: / They make his life a conſtant blot, / And all the bloud of God to run in vain. 1638, George Herbert, “Miserie”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, 5th edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] T[homas] Buck, and R[oger] Daniel, printers to the Universitie of Cambridge, →OCLC, page 94:
Some trot about to bear false witness, and say anything for money; and though judges know of it, yet for a bribe they wink at it, and suffer false contracts to prevail against equity. 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
(archaic, intransitive) To close one's eyes quickly and involuntarily; to blink.
The pipes began to be puffed in a silence which had an air of severity; the more important customers, who drank spirits and sat nearest the fire, staring at each other as if a bet were depending on the first man who ‘’’winked’’’ […] 1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter VI, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:
(intransitive, transitive) 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.)
Oliver saw Kit Carson wink at the lieutenant and Lucien Maxwell, as the speech reached them, and it was evident that these three leaders did not believe the Indian tales. Consequently he himself decided that the reports of "evil spirits" awaiting were all bosh. 1912, Edwin L. Sabin, chapter VIII, in With Carson and Frémont:
He winked at me. She winked her eye. He winked his assent.
(intransitive) To gleam fitfully or intermittently; to twinkle; to flicker.
Down in the bottoms the sycamore and cottonwood are casting off their yellowing leaves; but the white oak will cling to her gorgeous finery till the blizzard comes shrieking up the gulch to wrest it from her, or until the winking prairie-fire leaps among her branches, and mounting upward to the highest limbs, finally leaves the vain beauty a blackened skeleton. 1899, Will T. Whitlock, “The Circumflex”, in Overland Monthly, Vol. XXXIII, second series:
Her kitchen is a series of Still Lives; the copper pans wink on the walls. 1920, Katherine Mansfield, Letter to Richard Murray (ca. September 19), Vincent O. Sullivan & Margaret Scott, The Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield, Vol. 4 (1996)
la conniveo (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ast chisgar (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · sh namignuti (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · fr cligner de l’œil (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · es picar el ojo (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · bg прими́гвам (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · io palpebragar (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ca picar l'ullet (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · no blinke (to twinkle) · ru мига́ть (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · kk көз қысу (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · gl chiscar (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · la nicto (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · es cucar (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · hu kacsint (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · de zuzwinkern (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ja 瞬く (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · vi đá lông nheo (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ang wincian (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · da blinke (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · tr göz kırpmak (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · nrf clyinn'ter (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · cs blikat (to twinkle) · nl twinkelen (to twinkle) · it fare l'occhiolino (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · tr kaş göz etmek (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ko 눈을 깜빡이다 (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · fr faire un clin d'œil (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · cmn 眨眼睛 (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · pl puścić oko (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ln liba (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · el κλείνω το μάτι (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · it biluxare (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · de zwinkern (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · uk підморгну́ти (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · sk mrknúť (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ca fer l'ullet (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · gl piscar (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · it strizzare l'occhio (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · lv pamirkšķināt (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · nl knipogen (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · bg нами́гвам (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ru мерца́ть (to twinkle) · gd caog (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · be падмаргну́ць (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · wyi milip-milip-boni (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · eo okulsigni (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · gl choscar (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · pt piscar (o olho) (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · acw غَمَز (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · es guiñar (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · cmn 眨眼 (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · mr डोळा मारणे (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · sk mrkať (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · cmn 眨 (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · pl mrugnąć (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · grc σκαρδαμύσσω (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · nl flonkeren (to twinkle) · fa چشمک زدن (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ru подмигну́ть (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · qu ch'illmipakuy (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · enm wynken (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ar غَمَزَ (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ka თვალის ჩაკვრა (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · fi vilkuttaa (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · hy աչքով անել (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · hi आँख मारना (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ru подми́гивать (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · cs mrknout (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · be падмо́ргваць (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · nrf faithe un clyîn (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · de funkeln (To be dim and flicker) · gd priob (to twinkle) · ky көз кысуу (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · sh намигнути (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · lv mirkšķināt (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · cs mrkat (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ak bɔ ani (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · fi iskeä silmää (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · lv mirgot (to twinkle) · is blikka (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · fi vilkkua (to twinkle) · ru подма́ргивать (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · gd caog (to twinkle) · qu ch'ipihyay (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ky көз ирмөө (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · es bizquear (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · fi tuikkia (to twinkle) · osx winkon (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · nrf donner un clyîn (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · tr göz kırpmak (to twinkle) · be падмі́гваць (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ro face cu ochiul (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · ka თვალით ნიშნება (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · vi nháy mắt (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · uk підмо́ргувати (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · goh winchen (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · gd priob (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · grc δενδίλλω (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · tpi brukim ai (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · it ammiccare (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · no blunke (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · bcl kiyat (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · de blinken (To be dim and flicker) · ru подморгну́ть (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion) · be падмігну́ць (to blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion)
(UK, slang) Synonym of periwinkle (“type of mollusk”).
“I buy my winks,” said one, “at Billingsgate, at 3s. and 4s. the wash. A wash is about a bushel. […]” 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861: