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   blink

   /blɪŋk/

   verb

   • 1. shut and open the eyes quickly: "I blinked in astonishment" Similar shut and openflutterflickerwinkbattechnical:nictitatenictate
   • ▪ try to control or prevent tears by blinking: "Elizabeth blinked back tears"
   • ▪ react to (something) with surprise or disapproval: "he doesn't blink at the unsavoury aspects of his subject" Similar be surprisedlook twicebe startledbe shockedinformal:boggle
   • ▪ back down from a confrontation: "the government blinked only after losing 46 of the first 48 hearings"
   • 2. (of a light) flash on and off in a regular or intermittent way: "the car's right-hand indicator was blinking" Similar flashflickertwinklewaverwinkscintillateglintglimmerglittershine (intermittently)

   noun

   • 1. an act of shutting and opening the eyes very quickly: "he was observing her every blink"
   • ▪ a moment's hesitation: "Feargal would have given her all this without a blink"
   • 2. a momentary gleam of light: "out on the marshes there was a blink of light"

   Word Origin Middle English: from blenk, Scots variant of blench, reinforced by Middle Dutch blinken ‘to shine’. Early senses included ‘deceive’, ‘flinch’ (compare with blench), and also ‘open the eyes after sleep’: hence blink (sense 1 of the verb) (mid 16th century).

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • B

     3

   • L

     1

   • I

     1

   • N

     1

   • K

     5

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