blinking

verb

present participle of blink
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

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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

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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

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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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of blinking Songs were deconstructed and reconstructed each night as the pair hunched over their blinking arrays. — Will Pritchard, Pitchfork, 8 Aug. 2026 The car’s hazard-warning lights were blinking the whole time. — Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026 Soon, dozens of virtual attackers were blinking in and out of existence. — Stephen Witt, New Yorker, 30 July 2026 Nearby, several crocodiles sat without blinking in individual cages filled with greenish water. — ABC News, 29 July 2026 Nothing beats the thrill of chasing the blinking bugs in grandma’s backyard in the dark, zooming around with Mason jars in hand. — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 27 July 2026 But while Momsen was opening a concert, AC/DC was presiding over something that felt like a reunion, judging by the sea of black T-shirts, blinking red devil horns and giant cups of beer. — Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 22 July 2026 Everyone—blue-collar moms, college students, CEOs—suffers from the distractions of carrying around the pinging, blinking pocket-size casinos that our phones have become. — Xochitl Gonzalez, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026 There’s a hundred blinking eyes, proving cities are for lonely deer in headlights. — Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 17 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blinking
  1. twinkling
  2. squinting
  3. succumbing
  4. staring
  5. flashing
  6. fluttering
  7. submitting
  8. gazing
Verb
  • The Hubble Space Telescope captured this twinkling image of NGC 6723, or the Chandelier Cluster, a globular star cluster located 27,000 light-years away in our Milky Way galaxy.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Be sure to plan at least one evening on-property to catch the sunset, when the mountains are painted in shades of pink and purple before giving way to a sky filled with twinkling stars.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of twinkling
Verb
  • The cops arrived hours past midnight, turning on the lights to reveal an army of dazed, squinting faces.
    — Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
  • That would be the largest in league history and bring his career earnings within squinting distance of one billion.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of squinting
Verb
  • The researchers said this means that the current controls by AI companies are prone to being disabled by misbehaving AI and at risk of succumbing to a blitz of AI attacks.
    — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026
  • There have been some close calls, with the closest being a 75-74 defeat in Game 2 of last season’s opening round, a game where Golden State held multiple large leads before succumbing late to a Minnesota comeback.
    — Christian Babcock, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of succumbing
Verb
  • Finkelstein is also part of another program that will attempt to re-create Hubble and JWST’s famous deep-field images, which revealed millions of previously unseen galaxies by staring at seemingly empty patches of sky.
    — Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2026
  • When producer Robert Stigwood initially approached him about staring in the Sgt.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of staring
Verb
  • The Panthers scored all 26 points in the first half, flashing offensive explosiveness.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Today, consumers are struggling with growing inflation and slowing entry-level hiring, and Jenner is turning from flashing her private jets and multiple mansions to highlighting the flash of rhinestones placed on her everyday goods.
    — Sarah Glodek, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of flashing
Verb
  • For Arbaeen, the lights inside the shrine and the flags fluttering from its golden dome are switched to red – the color of vengeance.
    — Jane Arraf, NPR, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Some people feel a racing heartbeat or fluttering in their chest.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of fluttering
Verb
  • This can complicate the pre-approval and formal approval process for buyers without access to technology or who aren’t comfortable submitting sensitive documents online.
    — Dan Simms, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The following month, Marcus and Bakhitar made another strategic decision based on their network's advice, submitting applications to sell pickles at Erewhon and Whole Foods despite barely having any history as a business.
    — Megan Sauer, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of submitting
Verb
  • Their mornings begin with coffee and toast on the deck, gazing over the village rooftops to the ocean.
    — Barbara Bry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Deployed in 2004, the Swift Observatory spent over two decades gazing into some of the universe’s most powerful explosions.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of gazing

Browse Nearby Words

blinkered
blinking
blinking (at)
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Cite this Entry

“Blinking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blinking. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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