in the twinkle/twinkling of an eye

in the twinkle/twinkling of an eye
in the twinkle/twinkling of an eye
: in a very short time : very quickly

He was back in the twinkle/twinkling of an eye.

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Main Entry:eye

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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  • Twinkling — Twin kling, n. 1. The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland. [1913 Webster] 2. A shining with intermitted light; a scintillation; a sparkling; as, the twinkling of the stars. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • twinkle — (v.) O.E. twinclian, frequentative of twincan to wink, blink; related to M.H.G. zwinken, Ger. zwinkern, and probably somehow imitative. The noun is recorded from 1540s. Related: Twinkled; twinkling. Phrase in the twinkling of an eye is attested… …   Etymology dictionary

  • eye — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun 1 part of the body ADJECTIVE ▪ left, right ▪ amber, blue, brown, dark, golden, green, grey/gray …   Collocations dictionary

  • twinkle — 1 verb (I) 1 if a star or light twinkles, it shines in the dark, quickly changing from bright to faint: The lights of the town twinkled below us. 2 if someone s eyes twinkle, they have a cheerful expression (+ with): Don s eyes twinkled with… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • twinkle — 1. verb a) to shine with a flickering light; to glimmer The stars were twinkling in the dark sky. b) to be bright with delight We could see the lights of the …   Wiktionary

  • eye — 1 /aI/ noun (C) BODY PART 1 one of the two parts of the body that people and animals use to see: Annie has blue eyes. | Close your eyes and count to ten. 2 blue eyed/one eyed/bright eyed/wide eyed etc having blue eyes, one eye, bright eyes, eyes… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • twinkle — v. & n. v. 1 intr. (of a star or light etc.) shine with rapidly intermittent gleams. 2 intr. (of the eyes) sparkle. 3 intr. (of the feet in dancing) move lightly and rapidly. 4 tr. emit (a light or signal) in quick gleams. 5 tr. blink or wink… …   Useful english dictionary

  • twinkle — [twiŋ′kəl] vi. twinkled, twinkling [ME twinklen < OE twinclian, freq. of base seen in MHG zwinken, to wink] 1. to shine with quick, intermittent flashes of light, as some stars; sparkle 2. to light up, as with amusement: said of the eyes 3. to …   English World dictionary

  • Twinkle — Twin kle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Twinkled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Twinkling}.] [OE. twinklen, AS. twinclian; akin to OE. twinken to blink, wink, G. zwinken, zwinkern, and perhaps to E. twitch.] 1. To open and shut the eye rapidly; to blink; to wink.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Twinkling — Twinkle Twin kle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Twinkled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Twinkling}.] [OE. twinklen, AS. twinclian; akin to OE. twinken to blink, wink, G. zwinken, zwinkern, and perhaps to E. twitch.] 1. To open and shut the eye rapidly; to blink; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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