Forms: see WINK v.1; also 7 whinke. [f. WINK v.1]
1. A closing of the eyes for sleep; a (short) spell of sleep, a nap. rare exc. as in b, c.
In Shaks. in phr. referring to death.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 3. Þenne Wakede I of my wink.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxvii. (Machor), 1204. Till þai þe seruice all had mad, Þat to sic deide men suld parteyne, Or ony wink come in þar eyne.
c. 1450. Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.), 343. Here I Aske To go to taske A wynke.
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. i. 285. Whiles you doing thus, To the perpetuall winke for aye might put This ancient morsell. Ibid. (1611), Wint. T., I. i. 317. Thou … might’st be-spice a Cup, To giue mine Enemy a lasting Winke.
1869. Mrs. Whitney, We Girls, vi. ‘What is it, dear?’ asked Mrs. Hobart, rousing from a little arm-chair wink.
b. Phr. (not) to sleep a or one wink, (not) a wink of sleep, etc.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 9146. Þey … Ne mete ete, ne drank drynke, Ne slepte onely a-lepy wynke.
c. 1325. Metr. Hom., 79. That might he nouther ete ne drink, Ne have night rest, ne slope no wynk.
1508. Dunbar, Poems, vi. 14. This night I myght nocht sleip a wink.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, IV. x. 15. For neuir mair may scho sleip a wynk.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 316, marg. Reuilus a vigilaunte consul, for he neuer slept wynke in his consulship.
1611. Shaks., Cymb., III. iv. 103. Since I receiu’d command to do this businesse, I haue not slept one winke.
1682. N. O., Boileau’s Lutrin, II. 22. My aking head can get no wink of Sleep!
1740. Richardson, Pamela, II. 167. I will go to-bed; but not one Wink, I fear, shall I get this Night.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, v. Whether Mr. Quilp took any sleep by snatches of a few winks at a time.
1883. Miss Broughton, Belinda, I. ix. He has slept no wink all night.
1891. Kipling, Light that Failed, xiii. I can’t sleep a wink with you at the window.
c. Forty winks: a very brief sleep, a short nap. colloq.
1828. Egan, Finish to Tom & Jerry, iii. (1871), 87. The uncommonly big gentleman, told out, taking forty winks.
1851. Westm. Rev., July, 326. His quiet ‘forty winks’ after dinner.
1890. J. Hatton, By order of Czar, II. iv. ‘Well, I declare, Dolly, you are going to sleep.’
‘I am very tired; only forty winks. Is there time?’
2. A glance or significant movement of the eye (often accompanied by a nod) expressing command, assent, invitation, or the like. Obs. exc. in the proverb A nod’s as good as a wink to a blind horse (see also NOD sb.1 1), and phr. to tip, give or get the wink (now apprehended as sense 5).
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lxxxiv. 35. Ȝitt women sould … Thair vertewis all mak of na availlis, Be subtill winkis, and thair desaitfull talis.
1540. Elyot, Image Gov., xxxviii. (1541), 94. Of a mayster sturdy and fierce, a lyttell wynke to his seruant is a fearefull commaundement.
1583. Melbancke, Philotimus, S j b. I am not so blind, that thou canst make me beleue with a winke, it is midnight at noone day.
1591. Sylvester, Du Bartas, I. v. 24. Thou eternall Father, at whose wink The wrathfull Ocean’s swelling pride doth sink.
1602. Shaks., Ham., IV. v. 11. As her winks and nods and gestures yield them.
a. 1631. Donne, Poems, Sunne Rising, 13. Thy beames, so reverend and strong Why shouldst thou thinke? I could eclipse and cloud them with a winke.
1676. Etheredge, Man of Mode, I. i. I only tip him the wink, he knows an Ale-house from a Hovel.
1710. S. Palmer, Proverbs, 100. A nod and a wink are very often treacherous and false.
1756–7. trans. Keysler’s Trav. (1760), III. 313. At last … he gave him the wink.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), III. 139. Harry, upon a wink, stepped out.
a. 1774. Goldsm., trans. Scarron’s Com. Romance (1775), II. 262. The surgeon, who had previously got the wink, confined him to his bed.
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas, IV. v. ¶ 11. Don Felix thinks a wink as good as a nod.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xvi. A wink’s as gude as a nod to a blind horse.
1832. Ht. Martineau, Each & All, v. 69. On this, the wink went round, and the neighbours dropped off.
1872. C. Gibbon, For the King, xvii. He gave me the wink that the lady was a friend of his.
b. A glance or glimpse. (Cf. BLINK sb.2 2.)
[1598–1868: see EYE-WINK a.]
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xii. A trifle of orthography, a glance at ancient history, a wink or two at modern ditto.
3. transf. a. A moment of time, as being that occupied by a glance of the eyes; phr. in a wink († with or at a wink), in a trice. (Cf. EYE-WINK b.)
1585. Montgomerie, Sonn., xiii. 4. Bright Apollo … Quhais glorious glance ȝit stoutly skaillis the skyis, Quhen with a wink we wonder vhair they war.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.), II. 206. How … radie to do the king pleisour, at a wink quhen he wald charge.
1633. Earl Manch., Al Mondo (1636), 31. Man is only a winke of life.
1658. J. Robinson, Eudoxa, 33. The rest were coexisting with their first Being; or, upon the least Wink of Opportunity, prest to be drawn forth.
1693. Southerne, Maid’s last Prayer, III. ii. The company will be here in a wink, as a body may say.
1790. D. Morison, Poems, 7. Then aff a’ wallop in a wink.
1826. Hood, I Remember, 5. He [sc. the sun] never came a wink too soon.
1859. Tennyson, Vivien, 701. For in a wink the false love turns to hate.
1893. Stevenson, Catriona, xxx. 362. The next wink of time their blades clashed together.
b. (Not) a wink: (not) the slightest amount; esp. in not to see a wink.
1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, S 3. Hath be … exprest in his countenaunce the least wincke of dislike of them?
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. i. 242. Ambition cannot pierce a winke beyond.
1621. Molle, Camerar. Liv. Libr., II. xiii. 117. He was shut into a hole where he saw not a whinke.
1706. Estcourt, Fair Example, V. i. Whims. Look up, I say…. Sym. … In Sincerity, Sir, I can’t see a Wink.
1841. Thackeray, Gt. Hoggarty Diamond, v. At least in my bed-room … I could not see a wink.
4. A nictitation of the eyelid; a blink.
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., V. ii. 119. Euery winke of an Eye, some new Grace will be borne.
1825. Scott, Talism., xvii. Mark me the smallest twitch of the features, or wink of the eyelid.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xi. Sir Giles Wapshot had a particularly noisy manner of imbibing his soup, and her ladyship a wink of the left eye.
5. An act of winking (see WINK v.1 8).
1837. Dickens, Pickw., ix. Jingle … then … added, with a knowing wink, and a jerk of the thumb towards the interior of the chaise [etc.]. Ibid., lvi. He had been much struck with Mary’s appearance; having, in fact, bestowed several very unfatherly winks upon her, already.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xiv. ‘That is, if you’re not on duty to that pretty Miss Sedley,’ Crawley said, with a knowing wink.
1852. D. Jerrold, St. Giles, vii. 60. [He] gave a saucy wink to the Servant, and bounded … up stairs.
1891. Earl Rosebery, Pitt, xiii. 227. Facts of this kind can of course be always dismissed by a knowing wink or a sarcastic smile.
6. attrib. and Comb.
1708. Cibber, Lady’s Last Stake, I. i. 9. Tea!… Heart-opening, Wink-tipping Cordial.
1775. S. J. Pratt, Liberal Opin., lxxiv. (1783), III. 51. Upon mention of the wink money, he was driving off as fast as he could.
1902. Monkshood & Gamble, Kipling, 191. One of Mr. Kipling’s jaunty, hat-cocked-on-one-side, wink-tipping sketches.
1903. Hardy, Dynasts, I. VI. i. Should issues stand at pause But for a wink-while.
