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View synonyms for wink at

wink at

verb

  1. intr, preposition to connive at; disregard

    the authorities winked at corruption

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Idioms and Phrases

Deliberately overlook, pretend not to see, as in Sometimes it's wise to wink at a friend's shortcomings . This idiom, first recorded in 1537, uses wink in the sense of “close one's eyes.”

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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