Phrase guide

blink of an eye

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A moment (a very short period of time).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable, usually

Examples

  • Just a blink of an eye later, he was gone.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bat of an eye, eyeblink, bit, blink of an eye, crack, flash, glimpse, half a mo, instant, jiff, jiffy, jot, minute, mo, moment, New York minute, New York second, no time, sec, second, span, split-second, spurt, stound, tick, trice, twink, twinkle, twinkling, while

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: flash, heartbeat, instant, jiffy, split second, trice, twinkling, wink, New York minute

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: moment, mo, minute, second, bit

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: oomblik — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Bulgarian: миг (mig) — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Chinese Mandarin: 眨眼 (zhǎyǎn) — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Chinese Mandarin: 瞬間 /瞬间 (shùnjiān) — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Danish: øjeblik — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Dutch: ogenblik — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Finnish: silmänräpäys — moment (a very short period of time)
  • French: clin d'œil — moment (a very short period of time)
  • German: Augenblick — moment (a very short period of time)
  • German: Wimpernschlag — moment (a very short period of time)
  • German: Augenschlag — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Hungarian: szempillantás — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Italian: batter d'occhio — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Italian: batter d'occhi — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Italian: battito di ciglia — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Japanese: あっという間 (a-tto iu ma) — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Latin: nictātiō — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Low German: Ogenblick — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Māori: matakarapa — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Norwegian Bokmål: øyeblikk — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: augeblikk — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: augneblikk — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: augeblink — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: augneblink — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: augeblunk — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: augneblunk — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Polish: okamgnienie — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Portuguese: piscar de olhos — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Romanian: clipă — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Romanian: clipită — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Russian: мгнове́ние о́ка (mgnovénije óka) — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Russian: мгнове́ние (mgnovénije) — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Swedish: ögonblick — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Turkish: an — moment (a very short period of time)
  • Yiddish: אויגנבליק (oygnblik) — moment (a very short period of time)