nictitate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nictitate
First recorded in 1815–25; from Medieval Latin nictitātus, past participle of nictitāre, frequentative of nictāre nictate
Explanation
When you quickly shut and open your eyes, you nictitate — which is a fancy way of saying that you blink. The word nictitate comes from the Latin word nictare, which means "to blink." Many animals, including cats and some birds and reptiles, have a special nictitating membrane on each eye — an extra eyelid that moves sideways to protect, clean, and moisten the eye. The next time you see a lizard's eyes flicker or a bird blink rapidly, you can impress your friends by telling them it's nictitating!
Vocabulary lists containing nictitate
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.
Separately, the sclera, the eye’s outer layer, would most closely resemble those of horses and cows and include a nictitating membrane, the built-in goggles that make it possible to see underwater.
From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2022
In her 2018 special “Elder Millennial,” she references a nictitating membrane, the translucent inner eyelid typically found in reptiles and birds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
The patterns and colors of the creature's fins, shell and wrinkled neck are exquisitely rendered, as is the dull sheen of its left eye's nictitating membrane.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 30, 2010
He heard the eyases chittering, saw Frightful sitting erect on her stub, and let his nictitating membranes slip across each eye.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
A nictitating membrane lowered itself over her eyes.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
