blink
verb/blɪŋk/
/blɪŋk/
Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they blink | /blɪŋk/ /blɪŋk/ |
| he / she / it blinks | /blɪŋks/ /blɪŋks/ |
| past simple blinked | /blɪŋkt/ /blɪŋkt/ |
| past participle blinked | /blɪŋkt/ /blɪŋkt/ |
| -ing form blinking | /ˈblɪŋkɪŋ/ /ˈblɪŋkɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] blink (something) when you blink or blink your eyes or your eyes blink, you shut and open your eyes quickly
- He blinked in the bright sunlight.
- Lucy blinked at him in astonishment.
- I'll be back before you can blink (= very quickly).
- When I told him the news he didn't even blink (= showed no surprise at all).
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- hard
- furiously
- quickly
- …
- at
- in
- with
- …
- blink away a tear
- blink back tears
- blink your eyes
- …
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- [intransitive] to shine with an unsteady light; to flash on and off
- Suddenly a warning light blinked.
Word OriginMiddle 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 sense (1) (mid 16th cent.).
Check pronunciation:
blink