blink
/bliɳk/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb:
- To close and open the eyes quickly: The primary meaning refers to the rapid, involuntary or voluntary action of shutting and opening the eyelids.
- To shine with an unsteady light; to flash on and off: Used for lights or other sources that turn on and off repeatedly in quick succession.
- To ignore or avoid seeing something; to overlook: To figuratively close one's eyes to a fact or problem.
Noun:
- The act of blinking: A single instance of rapidly closing and opening the eyes.
- A quick gleam or flash of light: A brief, intermittent shine.
Usage Examples
Verb:
- She didn't even blink when the bright light shone in her eyes. (She kept her eyes open without the reflex action.)
- The distant lighthouse blinked in the fog. (Its light flashed on and off.)
- You cannot blink the fact that mistakes were made. (You cannot ignore the fact.)
Noun:
- In the blink of an eye, the bird was gone. (In an extremely short amount of time.)
- We saw a blink of light from the cave. (We saw a very brief flash of light.)
Advanced Usage
"on the blink" (idiom): Not working properly; out of order.
- The old television is on the blink again. (The TV is malfunctioning.)
"in the blink of an eye" (idiom): Extremely quickly; almost instantaneously.
- The accident happened in the blink of an eye. (It happened in a fraction of a second.)
"blink back tears": To try to prevent tears from falling by blinking.
- She tried to blink back her tears during the sad movie.
Variants and Related Words
- Blinker (noun): A flashing light used as a signal, or (often plural) a device that prevents a horse from seeing sideways.
- Blinking (adjective, adverb): (Informal, chiefly British) Used for emphasis, euphemistically replacing a stronger swear word (e.g., "It's a blinking miracle!").
Synonyms
- Verb (for eyes): Wink, flutter, nictitate (technical).
- Verb (for light): Flash, flicker, twinkle, wink.
- Verb (to ignore): Overlook, disregard, ignore.
Related Phrasal Verbs
Blink away: To remove (something, like tears) by blinking.
- He blinked away the raindrops from his eyelashes.
Blink at: To show surprise or disapproval at something (often used in negative constructions).
- She didn't blink at the high price; she just paid it. (She didn't react with surprise.)
Related Idioms
Not (even) blink: To show no reaction of surprise or fear.
- The negotiator didn't blink during the tense discussion. (Remained calm and unflinching.)
Blink first: To be the first to yield or show weakness in a confrontation.
- In the staring contest, who will blink first?
Noun
- a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly
Verb
- gleam or glow intermittently
- The lights were flashing
- force to go away by blinking
- blink away tears
- briefly shut the eyes
- The TV announcer never seems to blink