English Reference
Idiom idiom

twinkling of an eye


A short period of time.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

“The cat ran away in the twinkling of an eye.”

CONTEXTUAL

“The magician finished his final trick in the twinkling of an eye, leaving the entire audience completely amazed.”

COMPLEX

“The storm clouds gathered and vanished in the twinkling of an eye, leaving the landscape quiet and still once again.”


Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth

    compensation for injury caused by a person, in the form of inflicting of an identical injury on that person.

  2. 02

    apple of someone's eye

    The object of somebody's affections; a person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers; a favorite, a loved one.

  3. 03

    blink of an eye

    A moment (a very short period of time).

  4. 04

    camel through the eye of a needle

    Hyperbole to illustrate something that is impossible to do or to make happen.

  5. 05

    catch someone's eye

    To capture someone's attention.

  6. 06

    catch the eye

    To attract the attention

  7. 07

    close one eye

    to look the other way, to deliberately ignore or overlook (a mistake or transgression).

  8. 08

    dry eye

    An eye which is not crying, i.e. someone emotionally unmoved.

Last updated August 10, 2026