blink
Americanverb (used without object)
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blinks,
present (3rd person singular)
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blinked,
past participle, past
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blinking
present participle
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to close and reopen the eyes, especially involuntarily.
Every time I blink, it makes the cut on my eyelid hurt.
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to look with half-shut eyes or rapidly closing and opening eyes.
I blinked at the harsh morning light.
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to be startled, surprised, or dismayed (usually followed byat ).
She blinked at his sudden fury.
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to look evasively or with indifference; ignore (often followed byat ).
to blink at another's eccentricities.
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to shine unsteadily, dimly, or intermittently; twinkle; flicker.
The light on the buoy blinked in the distance.
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to yield or back down from a confrontation.
All eyes are on the two nations' standoff, waiting to see who blinks.
verb (used with object)
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blinks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blinked,
past participle, past
-
blinking
present participle
-
to close and reopen (the eye or eyes), usually rapidly, repeatedly, or involuntarily;
She blinked her eyes in an effort to wake up.
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to cause (something) to twinkle or shine intermittently.
We blinked the flashlight frantically, but there was no response.
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Rare. to ignore deliberately; evade; shirk.
Although deaths continue to rise, the authorities have blinked the problem.
noun
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blinks
plural
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an act or instance of closing and reopening the eyes, especially repeatedly or involuntarily.
She claimed not to be startled, but her blink betrayed her.
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the act or condition of flickering, twinkling, or shining intermittently.
The faithful blink of the lighthouse comforted the crew.
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a gleam; glimmer.
There was not a blink of light anywhere.
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Chiefly Scot. a glance or glimpse.
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Meteorology.
idioms
verb
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to close and immediately reopen (the eyes or an eye), usually involuntarily
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(intr) to look with the eyes partially closed, as in strong sunlight
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to shine intermittently, as in signalling, or unsteadily
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(tr; foll by away, from, etc) to clear the eyes of (dust, tears, etc)
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to be surprised or amazed
he blinked at the splendour of the ceremony
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to pretend not to know or see (a fault, injustice, etc)
noun
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the act or an instance of blinking
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a glance; glimpse
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short for iceblink
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slang not working properly
Usage
What does blink mean? To blink is to open and close the eyes rapidly, usually involuntarily. A blink is the act of blinking. To blink is also to shine unsteadily, as a light that is about to die might. In a figurative sense, to blink means to be startled or dismayed, as in Carter blinked at all the money his business partner spent on traveling. To blink can also mean to ignore or avoid something, as in Society will blink at rude behavior if the person being rude is powerful enough. Example: Blink your eyes when you see the light flash.
Synonym Usage
See wink 1.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blinksimple
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blinkssimple
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have blinkedperfect
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has blinkedperfect
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am blinkingprogressive
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are blinkingprogressive
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is blinkingprogressive
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have been blinkingperfect progressive
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has been blinkingperfect progressive
Past
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blinkedsimple
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had blinkedperfect
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was blinkingprogressive
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were blinkingprogressive
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had been blinkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blink
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English verb blincken, variant of blenchen, blenken “to quail, shrink back, blench” ( see blench 1); cognate with Dutch, German blinken
Explanation
To blink is to briefly close your eyes. The bright sunlight first thing in the morning might make you blink rapidly, until your eyes adjust. Your eyes blink reflexively, when you're not even thinking about it, but you can also deliberately blink back tears. Certain lights blink as well, like your car's turn signal, flashing on and off. A figurative way to blink is to hesitate or give up, especially at a confrontation: "The lawyers kept holding out for a settlement, waiting for the other side to blink first." The origin of blink is probably the Middle Dutch blinken, "to glitter."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In a blink, she lands on the floor, breathless.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
It is a case of "blink, and you'll miss it", the investment bank says.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
But it is significant "if we can reduce the number of incidents, even by a little, where people lose their lives in the blink of an eye".
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
But it also means it likely won’t be the first company to blink on AI spending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Once Rowan thought he saw a sharp nose twitching in a burrow, but in the blink of an eye, whatever it was had disappeared.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
“When one blinks, will the rest stop investing in the buildout?”
From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026
It's who blinks first or last wins or loses, and that's what you want to watch.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
"For instance, is there a strategic timing of a person's blinks so they would not miss out on what is being said?"
From Science Daily ● Dec. 23, 2025
Someone inevitably blinks or a background distraction ruins the shot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
The man blinks and sticks his hand out.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
The sun disappeared, the streetlights blinked on, and a shiver passed through the crowd that had nothing to do with the temperature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
It was the U.S Treasury market that blinked first and threatened dysfunction.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
If the D&B C-suite had any initial misgivings about putting their chips on raves, no one I spoke to blinked.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
I instinctively blinked back as happy tears streamed down my cheek.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
I blinked back a fresh wave of tears.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
The other day, I found myself looking at a blinking cursor in a blank address bar in a new tab of my web browser.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Among people I spoke to in Southampton, the same concerns came up time and time again: "They're a blinking nuisance," says elderly pedestrian Fred.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Installations, complete with blinking lights, video and music, now occupy former intake, surgery and recovery floors.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
A dozen members of the French navy scour screens for blinking lights indicating movement thousands of kilometres away near the Strait of Hormuz.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
I never knew the night sky could be so amazing—trillions of blinking, sparkling, spinning lights in a velvet-black sky.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
