eyeblink

Examples

• All

• Ensign, steward, and butler vanished in an eyeblink, as if they too knew an invisibility spell.

  Fiction book (2001)

• An eyeblink later, the screen announced STARTING HOLOTANK.

  Fiction book (2001)

• What matters is what you're doing during the eyeblink.

  Fiction book (2000)

• The smile vanished in an eyeblink when her wristcom spoke to her.

  Fiction book (2000)

• Sixteen, seventeen years at most, and that's like an eyeblink of time to a unicorn.

  Fiction book (1999)

• Came then a time—only an eyeblink as the ages mark it—when the pattern changed.

  Fiction book (1990)

• Still, she thought, taking another breath and thinking, not of water so hot it would boil the skin from her bones in an eyeblink, but of Malda, waiting for her at the access point, sitting exactly where she had told him, quivering from pointed nose to skinny tail.

  Blog text (9)

• It is the place of cause and effect, but of such scale that an eyeblink resonates for endless hours and produces such a plethora of absolutely unthinkable results.

  Fiction book (1995)

• The cabin walls flickered momentarily at that thought, and Rick cringed as he waited for a blast of flame to engulf him, but the fade-out only lasted for an eyeblink.

  Fiction book (1996)

• During an eyeblink, the car sped past, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Synonyms

B

blink

vseyeblink

70 1.0

A quick closing and opening of the eyelids

also carries the sense of a very short instant beyond the physical act

B

blink of an eye

vseyeblink

• Informal

35 2.8

A very short moment that passes almost instantly

also refers to the physical eyelid action besides the short time sense

B

blinking

vseyeblink

13 1.0

A quick closing and opening of the eyelids

is broader because it can mean a tiny span of time too

T

twinkling

vseyeblink

8 2.5

A very short moment of time

also names the quick eyelid movement, not only the time idea

E

eye blink

vseyeblink

2 1.0

A quick closing and opening of an eyelid that keeps the eye wet and protected

is also used to mean a very brief moment rather than only the reflex

T

twinkling of an eye

vseyeblink

• Informal

1 3.8

A very short time when things change suddenly

carries that time meaning but also denotes the eyelid action itself

I

in the wink of an eye

vseyeblink

• Informal

1 3.5

Very quickly, in an instant

can mean the same quick instant but also the actual eyelid movement

W

wink of an eye

vseyeblink

• Informal

1 3.8

In a very short time

adds the physical eyelid action meaning to that brief time sense

N

nictitation

vseyeblink

• Specialized

9.9

A quick blinking of the eyelids without thinking

has the same reflex sense but also means a very brief moment

N

nictation

vseyeblink

• Specialized

9.9

A quick closing and opening of the eyelids

is used more generally to mean an instant of time as well

I

in an eyeblink

vseyeblink

• Informal

6.8

Happen very quickly in the short time it takes to blink an eye

is the literal action as well as a word for a very short instant

Idioms

I

in an eyeblink

• Informal

6.8

Happen very quickly in the short time it takes to blink an eye

How Brief

flash

273 1.7

split second

43 2.5

eyeblink

1 3.2

instant

232 1.0

moment

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology