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PlainSpell

blink

/ˈblɪŋk/verb, noun

blink is spelled B-L-I-N-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, blink means “To close and reopen both eyes quickly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in blink?

Letters5: B-L-I-N-K
Syllables1
In writing5.4 times per million words; the 10,680th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is blink?

Blink appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce blink?

  • /ˈblɪŋk/
  • [ˈblɪŋk]

Blink has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-blink.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-Blink.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of blink

  • blinks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • blinking participle, present
  • blinked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does blink mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To close and reopen both eyes quickly.

    The loser in the staring game is the person who blinks first.

  2. 2

    To close and reopen one's eyes to remove (something) from on or around the eyes.

    She blinked her tears away.

  3. 3

    To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye.

  4. 4

    To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes.

  5. 5

    To shine, especially with intermittent light; to twinkle; to flicker; to glimmer, as a lamp.

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo glance.

  7. 7

    To flash on and off at regular intervals.

    The blinking text on the screen was distracting.

  8. 8

    To flash headlights on a car at.

    An urban legend claims that gang members will attack anyone who blinks them.

noun

  1. 1

    The act of quickly closing both eyes and opening them again.

  2. 2

    The time needed to close and reopen one's eyes.

  3. 3

    A text formatting feature that causes text to disappear and reappear as a form of visual emphasis.

  4. 4

    A glimpse or glance.

  5. 5

    UKgleam; glimmer; sparkle

  6. 6

    The dazzling whiteness about the horizon caused by the reflection of light from fields of ice at sea; iceblink

  7. 7

    Boughs cast where deer are to pass, in order to turn or check them.

  8. 8

    An ability that allows teleporting, mostly for short distances

noun

as Blink
  1. 1

    slangA fan of the South Korean girl group Blackpink.

    The long-awaited solo from BLACKPINK's Jennie came along and was very well received by BLINKs everywhere.

noun

as BLINK
  1. 1

    Alternative letter-case form of Blink.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Blink in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchciller, cligner des yeux, clignoter (to close and reopen both eyes quickly), faire un appel de phares (to flash headlights), clignement (closing both eyes and opening them again), clin d’œil (the time needed to close and reopen one's eyes)
Germanblinzeln (to close and reopen both eyes quickly), lichthupen, aufblenden (to flash headlights), Lidschlag (closing both eyes and opening them again), blinken, morsen (to send a signal with a lighting device)
Portuguesepiscar (to close and reopen both eyes quickly), piscada, piscadela (closing both eyes and opening them again), olhadela (a quick view)
Spanishparpadear, pestañear (to close and reopen both eyes quickly), guiñar (to flash headlights), parpadeo (closing both eyes and opening them again), destellar, titilar (to flash on and off at regular intervals)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does blink come from?

From Middle English blynken, blenken, from Old English *blincan (suggested by causative verb blenċan (“to deceive”); > English blench), from Proto-Germanic *blinkaną, a variant of *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after blink