[f. WINK v.1 + -ER1.]
1. One who winks (in various senses). rare.
1549. Latimer, 3rd Serm. bef. Edw. VI. (Arb.), 94. He was no gyfte taker, he was no wynker, he was no bywalker.
1550. Bale, Image Both Ch., II. xiii. f vij. That franticke papist Iohn Eckius, and our wynchester the wynker of wyles.
c. 1590. in Collect. B. L. Ballads (1867), 254. Cat will after kind, All winkers are not blind.
1649. Bulwer, Pathomyot., II. iv. 164. True Cowards who are of the worse Sect of winkers are wont to shut their Eyes.
1715. Pope, Lett. to Craggs, 15 July. A sett of nodders, winkers, and whisperers.
1820. J. Chambers, Ilustr. Worc., 539. ‘Are you a gentleman and wink at whist?’ This was too much for the winker.
1902. Sat. Rev., 19 July, 77/1. Self-conscious winkers and gigglers over their own misconduct.
2. Chiefly pl. applied to the eyes or the eyelashes. Now dial. or slang.
1734. in Mrs. Delany, Autobiogr. (1861), I. 519. As soon as my winkers are opened I am always blessed with one of your epistles.
1808. Jamieson, Winkers, the eye-lashes. S.
1893. Henry Frith, in Boy’s Own Paper, Jan., 151/3. Here, youngster, come here; clap your winker to this glass now.
1894. Crockett, Raiders, xxvi. 226. Curling upward like the winkers of an old man’s eye.
b. The nictitating membrane of a bird’s eye.
1884. Coues, N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2), 180.
3. pl. (rarely sing.) = BLINKER 2 b; also attrib. Also fig. or allusively.
1583. Fulke, Def., Confut. Papists, 32. He is the common packhorse of the Papistes,… he weareth a paire of winkers ouer his eyes like a milhorse.
1746–7. Mrs. Delany, in Autobiogr. (1861), II. 449. Most people wear vast winkers to their heads.
1755. J. Shebbeare, Lydia (1769), II. 29. Her cap standing beyond her eyes like a coach-horse’s winkers.
1794. Felton, Carriages (1801), II. 136.
1859. Carriage Builders’ Art Jrnl., I. 43/1. The winker-cheek is cut eight inches from buckle to buckle.
1882. J. Philipson, Harness, 18. Hogskin is utilized for the pads, winkers, &c., of brown harness.
Comb. 1845. Browning, in Lett. R. B. & Eliz. B. Barrett (1899), I. 79. I am set going with a hand, winker-wise, on each side of my head.
b. transf. Spectacles. rare.
1816. ‘Quiz,’ Grand Master, I. 11. A patent pair of goggle winkers, Conceal’d from public view his blinkers.
