English dictionary
wink
nounPronunciation
/ˈwɪŋk/
Audio pronunciation
Parts of speech
Definitions
noun
- 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.
verb
- 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.
noun
- A disc used in the game of tiddlywinks.
noun
- (Chiefly British) Periwinkle.
Example sentences
The film includes a wink to wartime rationing.
He winked at me. She winked her eye. He winked his assent.