adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A shining with fast intermittent light.
2. 2
   a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat) wordnet
3. 3
   A very short period, notionally the time it takes to blink the eyes.

   "The housework was done in a twinkling."

Verb

1. 1
   present participle and gerund of twinkle form-of, gerund, participle, present

Adjective

1. 1
   Sparkling intermittently.

Adjective

1. 1
   shining intermittently with a sparkling light wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

blink of an eyeflashinstantjiffynew york minutetrice

Example

More examples

"Countless stars were twinkling in the sky."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English twynkelynge, equivalent to twinkle + -ing.

Etymology 2

From Middle English twynkelyng, twynkelynge, equivalent to twinkle + -ing.

Related phrases

in the twinkling of a bedpostin the twinkling of a bedstaffin the twinkling of an eye

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.