- an act of winking, especially as a signal to somebody
- He gave her a knowing wink.
- He directed a conspiratorial wink at his son.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- broad
- little
- conspiratorial
- …
- give somebody
- throw somebody
- with a wink
Word OriginOld English wincian ‘close the eyes’, of Germanic origin; related to German winken ‘to wave’, also to wince.Want to learn more?
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Idioms
See wink in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarya nod and a wink
(also a nod is as good as a wink)
- used to say that a suggestion or a hint will be understood, without anything more being said
- Everything could be done by a nod and a wink.
not get/have a wink of sleep | not sleep a wink
- to not be able to sleep
- I didn't get a wink of sleep last night.
- I hardly slept a wink.
nudge nudge, wink wink
(also a nudge and a wink)
- used to suggest something to do with sex without actually saying it
- They've been spending a lot of time together, nudge nudge, wink wink.
tip somebody the wink | tip the wink to somebody
- (British English, informal) to give somebody secret information that they can use to gain an advantage for themselves
- There’s no way he would have bought those shares if someone in the company hadn’t tipped him the wink.
Check pronunciation:
wink