What does "winker" mean?
A person or an animal that winks (“blinks with one eye; blinks with one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion, usually with an implication of conspiracy”).
Winker
/ˈwɪŋkə/ name, noun, slang
name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person or an animal that winks (“blinks with one eye; blinks with one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion, usually with an implication of conspiracy”).
- Grammar: winker is listed as name, noun, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: blinder, blinker, blinking, eye.
- Usage evidence: He [Joshua] vvas the pattern of a true Judge, he vvas no gift-taker, he vvas no vvinker, he vvas no by-vvalker.
How to use "winker"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "winker" 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 "winker" 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 "winker" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "winker" is acting as name, noun, 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
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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.
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person or an animal that winks (“blinks with one eye; blinks with one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion, usually with an implication of conspiracy”).
- 2 Clipping of tiddlywinker (“a player of the game of tiddlywinks”). abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
- 3 blind consisting of a leather eyepatch sewn to the side of the halter that prevents a horse from seeing something on either side wordnet
- 4 A person or an animal that winks (“blinks with one eye; blinks with one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion, usually with an implication of conspiracy”).; A person who connives with another; a conniver.
"He [Joshua] vvas the pattern of a true Judge, he vvas no gift-taker, he vvas no vvinker, he vvas no by-vvalker."
- 5 a person who winks wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A thing which is used to wink with, or which winks.; Synonym of turn signal (“each of the flashing lights on each side of a vehicle which is used to indicate that the vehicle is moving left or right”); a blinker, an indicator. informal
- 7 A thing which is used to wink with, or which winks.; Synonym of blinker (“a shield attached to the bridle of a horse or other domesticated animal to prevent it from seeing things behind it and to its side”). also, attributive, figuratively, in-plural
"[T]his Censurer slaundereth manie men, another might say of him, he is the cōmon packhorse of the Papistes, to carrie any fardell of lyes deuised against any Christian man or booke that commeth in his way, and the rather because he weareth a paire of winkers ouer his eyes like a milhorse, being ashamed to shewe either his face or his name."
- 8 A thing which is used to wink with, or which winks.; A small bellows in an organ, regulated by a spring, which controls variations of wind pressure.
"Where the wind-trunk is short between the reservoir and wind-chests the tone will be steady; but when it is long, and with bends, the elasticity of the air causes an unsteadiness in the tone, which must be obviated by the use of concussion-bellows, sometimes called "winkers," or by an elastic diaphragm."
- 9 A thing which is used to wink with, or which winks.; The nictitating membrane (“transparent protective fold of skin acting as an inner eyelid”) of a birds's eye.
"There is a third inner eyelid, highly developed and of beautiful mechanism: this is the nictitating membrane, or "winker" (nictito, I wink), a delicate, elastic, translucent, pearly-white fold of the conjunctiva. While the other lids move vertically and have a horizontal commissure, the winker sweeps horizontally or obliquely across the ball, from the side next the beak to the opposite."
- 10 A thing which is used to wink with, or which winks.; An eye. British, dialectal, slang
"[H]e has shell'd out the lour for the occasion, and is travelling down to keep a wakeful winker on his retailers, and to take care that however they may chuse to lush away the profit, they shall at least take care of the principal. [Footnote ǁ: “Wakeful winker—A sharp eye.”]"
- 11 A thing which is used to wink with, or which winks.; An eyelash. British, US, dialectal, slang
"We're like father and Aunt Nina, hanging on the wall in the library. Mother's got big black eyes, with winkers a rod long, and her hair shines like my velvet coat, and comes most to her feet."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname from German.
Example
"He [Joshua] vvas the pattern of a true Judge, he vvas no gift-taker, he vvas no vvinker, he vvas no by-vvalker."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "winker"?
Common synonyms include: blinder, blinker, blinking, eye, lamp, ocular.
How do you use "winker" in a sentence?
He [Joshua] vvas the pattern of a true Judge, he vvas no gift-taker, he vvas no vvinker, he vvas no by-vvalker.
How do you pronounce "winker"?
Pronounced /ˈwɪŋkə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From wink (“blinking of only one eye”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).
Etymology 2
Clipping of tiddlywinker.
Etymology 3
Borrowed from German Winker.