1
as in twinkling
to shine with light at regular intervals
she loves to sit in the dark and watch the lights on the Christmas tree blink in ever-changing patterns
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in squinting
to rapidly open and close one's eyes
I blinked for a few seconds after the camera flashed
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in succumbing
to cease resistance (as to another's arguments, demands, or control)
for two days the nations stood on the brink of war, until one finally blinked
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in staring
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise
stood blinking at the ridiculous scene before him in utter disbelief
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of blinking
Robbie Saenz de Viteri, the project’s co-creator, came into the visitor center, wheeling a library cart laden with a blinking soundboard.
—
Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
Instead, the crew of the historic Artemis II mission headed around the moon reported a blinking fault light on their lunar latrine.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026
There are blinking bacteria, flaming fungus, shimmering squid, and flashing fish.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
The emitters also demonstrated strong spectral stability, addressing a key limitation in earlier designs where blinking and photobleaching reduced performance.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 20 Mar. 2026
Across Exuvie, Büchi induces a state of temporary autophony, a condition in which internal body sounds like breathing and blinking are amplified to maddening volume.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 13 Mar. 2026
Two tiny humanoid robots that can play soccer stand in a glass case, one blinking and gesturing at visitors and the other partially disassembled to reveal the engineering inside.
—Miriam Fauzia, Dallas Morning News, 5 Mar. 2026
Why face the blank page and the blinking cursor?
—Charles Yu, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2026
Just blasted off the line while everyone else stood there blinking.
—Patrick Iversen, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2026
Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
Instead, the crew of the historic Artemis II mission headed around the moon reported a blinking fault light on their lunar latrine.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026
There are blinking bacteria, flaming fungus, shimmering squid, and flashing fish.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
The emitters also demonstrated strong spectral stability, addressing a key limitation in earlier designs where blinking and photobleaching reduced performance.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 20 Mar. 2026
Across Exuvie, Büchi induces a state of temporary autophony, a condition in which internal body sounds like breathing and blinking are amplified to maddening volume.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 13 Mar. 2026
Two tiny humanoid robots that can play soccer stand in a glass case, one blinking and gesturing at visitors and the other partially disassembled to reveal the engineering inside.
—Miriam Fauzia, Dallas Morning News, 5 Mar. 2026
Why face the blank page and the blinking cursor?
—Charles Yu, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2026
Just blasted off the line while everyone else stood there blinking.
—Patrick Iversen, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blinking
Verb
-
Traditional daytime water activities abound at this lake, but also plan to head out at night to see the Clarksville Bridge illuminated with twinkling lights that reflect beautifully on the water’s surface.—
Jennifer Prince,
Southern Living,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Wessels catches gleams to follow not only in magical tales but in twinkling memories, sparkling wordplay, the films of silver-screen star Veronica Lake, and his charm of a daughter, the inspiration of a half-dozen poems that take their titles from spells.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
And squinting is not necessary to see a vision for him.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Those last 20 minutes are pretty engaging, even if some of that engagement is squinting to see and interpret what’s going on.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Shepard uses her last ounce of strength to kill the final hitman before succumbing to her injuries.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2026
-
And the bumbling nature of Lesgate, with Jones playing the internal conflicts sharply, comes with succumbing to the horrid nature of what money can bring.—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Up on their hind legs, sitting around me, staring at me.—
Sabienna Bowman,
PEOPLE,
10 Apr. 2026
-
After staring at the dog for 90 seconds, Green went back into his apartment and then threw a cutting board at the dog.—
Tim Fang,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Nevertheless, employers understandably saw the warning as a yellow light, if not a flashing red light.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Jordan is wearing bridal white, while Fleetwood is decked out in a weather-appropriate short-sleeve button-up, flashing a gold band on his ring finger.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Given this narrowing, many of us refrained from submitting our books for consideration to your awards or declined to engage with your programs.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Apr. 2026
-
One key role for physicians in submitting billing requests to Medicare is to provide certification that the patient is indeed suffering from a terminal illness.—
Grace Manthey,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Days are spent barefoot, raising turnips, sitting out by the lake, gazing at the cattle.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Sifting through data from sun-gazing spacecraft, Battams’s project has found more than 5,000 so far.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
During this stage of the descent, Orion will be engulfed in a fireball, flickering plasma igniting outside the window hatches.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Meis moves from the Baroque virtuosity of Rubens’s study of a drunken mythological figure, through the jagged modernist puzzle of Marc’s allegorical animals, to Mitchell’s painterly abstractions and their flickering landscape allusions.—
Jed Perl,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Blinking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blinking. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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