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Blink vs See - What's the difference?

blink | see |

As nouns the difference between blink and see

is that blink is the act of very quickly closing both eyes and opening them again while see is .

As a verb blink

is to close and reopen both eyes quickly.

blink

English

Verb

  • To close and reopen both eyes quickly.
  • The loser in the staring game is the person who blinks first.
  • To flash headlights on a car at.
  • An urban legend claims that gang members will attack anyone who blinks them.
  • To send a signal with a lighting device.
  • Don't come to the door until I blink twice.
  • To flash on and off at regular intervals.
  • The blinking text on the screen was distracting.
  • (hyperbole) To perform the smallest action that could solicit a response.
  • * 1980 , Billy Joel, “Don't Ask Me Why”, Glass Houses , Columbia Records
  • All the waiters in your grand cafe / Leave their tables when you blink .
  • To shut out of sight; to evade; to shirk.
  • to blink the question
  • (Scotland) To trick; to deceive.
  • (Jamieson)
  • To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • One eye was blinking , and one leg was lame.
  • To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne.
  • To shine, especially with intermittent light; to twinkle; to flicker; to glimmer, as a lamp.
  • * Wordsworth
  • The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink .
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • The sun blinked fair on pool and stream.
  • To turn slightly sour, or blinky, as beer, milk, etc.
  • (label) To teleport, mostly for short distances
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of very quickly closing both eyes and opening them again.
  • (figuratively) The time needed to close and reopen one's eyes.
  • (computing) A text formatting feature that causes text to disappear and reappear as a form of visual emphasis.
  • * 2007 , Cheryl D. Wise, Foundations of Microsoft Expression Web: The Basics and Beyond (page 150)
  • I can think of no good reason to use blink because blinking text and images are annoying, they mark the creator as an amateur, and they have poor browser support.
  • A glimpse or glance.
  • * Bishop Hall
  • This is the first blink that ever I had of him.
  • (UK, dialect) gleam; glimmer; sparkle
  • * Wordsworth
  • Not a blink of light was there.
    (Sir Walter Scott)
  • (nautical) The dazzling whiteness about the horizon caused by the reflection of light from fields of ice at sea; iceblink
  • (sports, in the plural) Boughs cast where deer are to pass, in order to turn or check them.
  • (label) An ability that allows teleporting, mostly for short distances
  • see

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To perceive or detect with the eyes, or as if by sight.
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=But Richmond
  • # To witness or observe by personal experience.
  • #* (Bible), (w) viii. 51
  • Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
  • To form a mental picture of.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-23, author=(Mark Cocker)
  • , volume=189, issue=11, page=28, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Wings of Desire , passage=It is not just that we see birds as little versions of ourselves. It is also that, at the same time, they stand outside any moral process. They are utterly indifferent. This absolute oblivion on their part, this lack of sharing, is powerful.}}
  • # (label) To understand.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic
  • # To come to a realization of having been mistaken or misled.
  • (label) To meet, to visit.
  • # To have an interview with; especially, to make a call upon; to visit.
  • #* (Bible), 1 (w) xv. 35
  • And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death.
  • # To date frequently.
  • (label) To ensure that something happens, especially while witnessing it.
  • (label) To respond to another player's bet with a bet of equal value.
  • To foresee, predict, or prophesy.
  • To determine by trial or experiment; to find out (if'' or ''whether ).
  • (used in the imperative ) Used to emphasise a proposition.
  • Synonyms
    * (perceive with the eyes) behold, descry, espy, observe, view * (understand) follow, get, understand
    Derived terms
    * aftersee * besee * foresee * forsee * insee * missee * outsee * oversee * see a man about a dog * see for * see things * see someone right * see stars * see the light of day * see through * see-through * see with one's own eyes * undersee * unsee

    See also

    * look * sight * watch

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A diocese, archdiocese; a region of a church, generally headed by a bishop, especially an archbishop.
  • The office of a bishop or archbishop; bishopric or archbishopric
  • A seat; a site; a place where sovereign power is exercised.
  • * Spenser
  • Jove laughed on Venus from his sovereign see .
    Derived terms
    * Holy See

    See also

    * cathedra * cathedral * chair * throne

    Statistics

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