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It is not only important, but, in a degree necessary, that the people of this country, should have an American Dictionary of the English language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England, and it is desirable to perpetuate that sameness, yet some differences must exist. Language is the expression of ideas; and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas, they cannot retain an identity of language. |
WINK, v.i. [G. Wink and wince are radically one word.]
WINK, n.
To nod; to sleep; to nap.
[Obs.]
"Although I wake or wink." Chaucer. To shut the eyes quickly; to close the eyelids with
a quick motion.
He must wink, so loud he would cry. Chaucer. And I will wink, so shall the day seem night. Shak. They are not blind, but they wink. Tillotson. To close and open the eyelids quickly; to
nictitate; to blink.
A baby of some three months old, who winked, and turned aside its little face from the too vivid light of day. Hawthorne. To give a hint by a motion of the eyelids, often
those of one eye only.
Wink at the footman to leave him without a plate. Swift. To avoid taking notice, as if by shutting the
eyes; to connive at anything; to be tolerant; -- generally with
at.
The times of this ignorance God winked at. Acts xvii. 30. And yet, as though he knew it not, Obstinacy can not be winked at, but must be subdued. Locke. To be dim and flicker; as, the light
winks.
Winking monkey (Zoöl.), the white- nosed monkey (Cersopithecus nictitans). To cause (the eyes) to
wink.
[Colloq.] The act of
closing, or closing and opening, the eyelids quickly; hence, the time
necessary for such an act; a moment.
I have not slept one wink. Shak. I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink. Donne. A hint given by shutting the eye with a
significant cast.
Sir. P. Sidney.
The stockjobber thus from Change Alley goes down, | ||||||||