from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Wink \Wink\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Winked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Winking}.] [OE. winken, AS. wincian; akin to D. wenken, G.
winken to wink, nod, beckon, OHG. winchan, Sw. vinka, Dan.
vinke, AS. wancol wavering, OHG. wanchal wavering, wanch?n to
waver, G. wanken, and perhaps to E. weak; cf. AS. wincel a
corner. Cf. {Wench}, {Wince}, v. i.]
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1. To nod; to sleep; to nap. [Obs.] "Although I wake or
wink." --Chaucer.
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2. To shut the eyes quickly; to close the eyelids with a
quick motion.
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He must wink, so loud he would cry. --Chaucer.
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And I will wink, so shall the day seem night.
--Shak.
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They are not blind, but they wink. --Tillotson.
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3. To close and open the eyelids quickly; to nictitate; to
blink.
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A baby of some three months old, who winked, and
turned aside its little face from the too vivid
light of day. --Hawthorne.
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4. To give a hint by a motion of the eyelids, often those of
one eye only.
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Wink at the footman to leave him without a plate.
--Swift.
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5. To avoid taking notice, as if by shutting the eyes; to
connive at anything; to be tolerant; -- generally with at.
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The times of this ignorance God winked at. --Acts
xvii. 30.
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And yet, as though he knew it not,
His knowledge winks, and lets his humors reign.
--Herbert.
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Obstinacy can not be winked at, but must be subdued.
--Locke.
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6. To be dim and flicker; as, the light winks.
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{Winking monkey} (Zool.), the white-nosed monkey
({Cersopithecus nictitans}).
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