To close and open one or both of the eyes rapidly.
To look through half-closed eyes, as in a bright glare; squint.
To shine with intermittent gleams; flash on and off.
To be startled or dismayed.
To waver or back down, as in a contest of wills: "This was the first genuine, direct confrontation between this administration and the Soviets. It was the U.S.A. that blinked"(Zbigniew Brzezinski).
To look with feigned ignorance: a mayor who blinks at the corruption in city government.
v.
tr.
To cause to blink.
To hold back or remove from the eyes by blinking: blinked back the tears.
To refuse to recognize or face: blink ugly facts.
To transmit (a message) with a flashing light.
n.
The act or an instance of rapidly closing and opening the eyes or an eye.
[Probably Middle English blinken, to move suddenly, variant of blenchen; see blench1.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to open and close the eyelids or an eyelid rapidly: a dog blinking lazily at the fire; reptiles nictitating; twinkled, then laughed and responded; winked conspiratorially at his friend.
1590, from M.Du. blinken "to glitter," of uncertain origin (possibly akin to bleach; cf. Ger. blinken "to gleam, sparkle, twinkle"). M.E. used blekne in this sense, related to blench (q.v.).
Main Entry: 1blink Pronunciation: 'bli[ng]k Function: intransitive verb : to close and open the eyes involuntarily (as when struggling against
drowsiness or when dazzled) blinktransitive senses 1: to close and open (the eye) involuntarily 2: to remove (as tears) from the eye by
blinking
vi.,n. [now rare] To use a navigator or off-line message reader to minimize time spent on-line to a commercial network service (a necessity in many places outside the U.S. where the telecoms monopolies charge per-minute for local calls). As of late 1994, this term was said to be in wide use in the UK, but is rare or unknown in the US. In early 2000 it was reported that the term had apparently passed out of use in the U.K.
Blank\, a. [OE. blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, fr. F. blanc, fem. blanche, fr. OHG. blanch shining, bright, white, G. blank; akin to E. blink, cf. also AS. blanc white. ?98. See Blink, and cf. 1st Blanch.]1. Of a white or pale color; without color. To the blank moon Her office they prescribed. --Milton. 2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in with some special writing; -- said of checks, official documents, etc.; as, blank paper; a blank check; a blank ballot. 3. Utterly confounded or discomfited. Adam . . . astonied stood, and blank. --Milton. 4. Empty; void; without result; fruitless; as, a blank space; a blank day. 5. Lacking characteristics which give variety; as, a blank desert; a blank wall; destitute of interests, affections, hopes, etc.; as, to live a blank existence; destitute of sensations; as, blank unconsciousness. 6. Lacking animation and intelligence, or their associated characteristics, as expression of face, look, etc.; expressionless; vacant. "Blank and horror-stricken faces." --C. Kingsley. The blank . . . glance of a half returned consciousness. --G. Eliot. 7. Absolute; downright; unmixed; as, blank terror. Blank bar (Law), a plea put in to oblige the plaintiff in an action of trespass to assign the certain place where the trespass was committed; -- called also common bar. Blank cartridge, a cartridge containing no ball. Blank deed. See Deed. Blank door, or Blank window (Arch.), a depression in a wall of the size of a door or window, either for symmetrical effect, or for the more convenient insertion of a door or window at a future time, should it be needed. Blank indorsement (Law), an indorsement which omits the name of the person in whose favor it is made; it is usually made by simply writing the name of the indorser on the back of the bill. Blank line (Print.), a vacant space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a line of quadrats. Blank tire (Mech.), a tire without a flange. Blank tooling. See Blind tooling, under Blind. Blank verse. See under Verse. Blank wall, a wall in which there is no opening; a dead wall.
Blaze\ (bl[=a]z), n. [OE. blase, AS. bl[ae]se, blase; akin to OHG. blass whitish, G. blass pale, MHG. blas torch, Icel. blys torch; perh. fr. the same root as E. blast. Cf. Blast, Blush, Blink.]1. A stream of gas or vapor emitting light and heat in the process of combustion; a bright flame. "To heaven the blaze uprolled." --Croly. 2. Intense, direct light accompanied with heat; as, to seek shelter from the blaze of the sun. O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon! --Milton. 3. A bursting out, or active display of any quality; an outburst; a brilliant display. "Fierce blaze of riot." "His blaze of wrath." --Shak. For what is glory but the blaze of fame? --Milton. 4. [Cf. D. bles; akin to E. blaze light.] A white spot on the forehead of a horse. 5. A spot made on trees by chipping off a piece of the bark, usually as a surveyor's mark. Three blazes in a perpendicular line on the same tree indicating a legislative road, the single blaze a settlement or neighborhood road. --Carlton. In a blaze, on fire; burning with a flame; filled with, giving, or reflecting light; excited or exasperated. Like blazes, furiously; rapidly. [Low] "The horses did along like blazes tear." --Poem in Essex dialect. Note: In low language in the U. S., blazes is frequently used of something extreme or excessive, especially of something very bad; as, blue as blazes. --Neal. Syn: Blaze, Flame. Usage: A blaze and a flame are both produced by burning gas. In blaze the idea of light rapidly evolved is prominent, with or without heat; as, the blaze of the sun or of a meteor. Flame includes a stronger notion of heat; as, he perished in the flames.
Bleak\, a. [OE. blac, bleyke, bleche, AS. bl[=a]c, bl?c, pale, wan; akin to Icel. bleikr, Sw. blek, Dan. bleg, OS. bl?k, D. bleek, OHG. pleih, G. bleich; all from the root of AS. bl[=i]can to shine; akin to OHG. bl[=i]chen to shine; cf. L. flagrare to burn, Gr. ? to burn, shine, Skr. bhr[=a]j to shine, and E. flame. ?98. Cf. Bleach, Blink, Flame.]1. Without color; pale; pallid. [Obs.] When she came out she looked as pale and as bleak as one that were laid out dead. --Foxe. 2. Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds. Wastes too bleak to rear The common growth of earth, the foodful ear. --Wordsworth. At daybreak, on the bleak sea beach. --Longfellow. 3. Cold and cutting; cheerless; as, a bleak blast. -- Bleak"ish, a. -- Bleak"ly, adv. -- Bleak"ness, n.
Blear\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bleared; p. pr. & vb. n. Blearing.] [OE. bleren; cf. Dan. plire to blink, Sw. plira to twinkle, wink, LG. plieren; perh. from the same root as E. blink. See Blink, and cf. Blur.] To make somewhat sore or watery, as the eyes; to dim, or blur, as the sight. Figuratively: To obscure (mental or moral perception); to blind; to hoodwink. That tickling rheums Should ever tease the lungs and blear the sight. --Cowper. To blear the eye of, to deceive; to impose upon. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Blench\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Blenched; p. pr. & vb. n. Blenching.] [OE. blenchen to blench, elude, deceive, AS. blencan to deceive; akin to Icel. blekkja to impose upon. Prop. a causative of blink to make to wink, to deceive. See Blink, and cf. 3d Blanch.]1. To shrink; to start back; to draw back, from lack of courage or resolution; to flinch; to quail. Blench not at thy chosen lot. --Bryant. This painful, heroic task he undertook, and never blenched from its fulfillment. --Jeffrey. 2. To fly off; to turn aside. [Obs.] Though sometimes you do blench from this to that. --Shak.
Blink\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Blinked; p. pr. & vb. n. Blinking.] [OE. blenken; akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance, wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken to glance, twinkle, G. blicken to look, glance, AS. bl[=i]can to shine, E. bleak. [root]98. See Bleak; cf. 1st Blench.]1. To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye. One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame. --Pope 2. To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes. Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne. --Shak. 3. To shine, esp. with intermittent light; to twinkle; to flicker; to glimmer, as a lamp. The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink. --Wordsworth. The sun blinked fair on pool and stream . --Sir W. Scott. 4. To turn slightly sour, as beer, mild, etc.
Blink\, n. [OE. blink. See Blink, v. i. ]1. A glimpse or glance. This is the first blink that ever I had of him. --Bp. Hall. 2. Gleam; glimmer; sparkle. --Sir W. Scott. Not a blink of light was there. --Wordsworth. 3. (Naut.) The dazzling whiteness about the horizon caused by the reflection of light from fields of ice at sea; ice blink. 4. pl. [Cf. Blencher.] (Sporting) Boughs cast where deer are to pass, to turn or check them. [Prov. Eng.]
Blink\, n. [OE. blink. See Blink, v. i. ]1. A glimpse or glance. This is the first blink that ever I had of him. --Bp. Hall. 2. Gleam; glimmer; sparkle. --Sir W. Scott. Not a blink of light was there. --Wordsworth. 3. (Naut.) The dazzling whiteness about the horizon caused by the reflection of light from fields of ice at sea; ice blink. 4. pl. [Cf. Blencher.] (Sporting) Boughs cast where deer are to pass, to turn or check them. [Prov. Eng.]
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