What does "wink" mean?
An act of winking (a blinking of only one eye), or a message sent by winking.
Wink
/ˈwɪŋk/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An act of winking (a blinking of only one eye), or a message sent by winking.
- Grammar: wink is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: blink, nictitate, aid to navigation, alarm.
- Useful contrasts: bluntness, condemn, constant light.
- Usage evidence: Last night I did not get a wink of sleep.
How to use "wink"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "wink" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "wink" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "wink" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "wink" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "wink" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "blink" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "wink", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An act of winking (a blinking of only one eye), or a message sent by winking.
- 2 Synonym of tiddlywink (“small disc used in the game of tiddlywinks”).
- 3 Synonym of periwinkle (“type of mollusk”). British, slang
"“I buy my winks,” said one, “at Billingsgate, at 3s. and 4s. the wash. A wash is about a bushel. […]”"
- 4 a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly wordnet
- 5 A brief period of sleep; especially forty winks.
"I couldn't bear to leave him where he is. I shouldn't sleep a wink for thinking of him."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 closing one eye quickly as a signal wordnet
- 7 A brief time; an instant.
- 8 a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat) wordnet
- 9 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."
- 10 A subtle allusion.
"The film includes a wink to wartime rationing."
Verb
- 1 To close one's eyes in sleep. intransitive, obsolete
"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."
- 2 briefly shut the eyes wordnet
- 3 To close one's eyes. intransitive
"Art thou ashamed to kiss? then wink again, And I will wink; so shall the day seem night […]"
- 4 signal by winking wordnet
- 5 Usually followed by at: to look the other way, to turn a blind eye. intransitive
"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."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 keep back by blinking wordnet
- 7 To close one's eyes quickly and involuntarily; to blink. intransitive
"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’’’ […]"
- 8 gleam or glow intermittently wordnet
- 9 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.) intransitive, transitive
"He winked at me. She winked her eye. He winked his assent."
- 10 To gleam fitfully or intermittently; to twinkle; to flicker. intransitive
"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."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Last night I did not get a wink of sleep."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "wink"?
Common synonyms include: blink, nictitate, aid to navigation, alarm, amber light, balefire.
How do you use "wink" in a sentence?
Last night I did not get a wink of sleep.
How do you pronounce "wink"?
Pronounced /ˈwɪŋk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”).
Etymology 2
Clipping of tiddlywink.
Etymology 3
Clipping of periwinkle.