wink at

phrasal verb

winked at; winking at; winks at

: to pretend not to have seen or noticed (something) : to ignore

The city cops wink at the mayor's parking violations.

Examples of wink at in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Still, her support of the club’s broader movement to support Dominican women is a wink at the artist’s new commitment to support her communities back home. —

Zameena Mejia, refinery29.com, 24 Sep. 2024 The United States was again tarred by complicity, by winking at such electoral violations as state media working to elect Yeltsin or the gross violations of campaign spending limits, and even by sending U.S. advisers to help Yeltsin’s stumbling campaign. —

Robert David English, Foreign Affairs, 10 Mar. 2017 There are some artful depictions of chickens on the walls, a wink at the caged clucker suspended over the bone- and feather-strewn floor in the movie. —

Deborah Martin, San Antonio Express-News, 30 Sep. 2024 Wearing a durag and talking about city ordinances, Ventura spotted the only kid in the room and winked at me. —

Nicole Russell, USA TODAY, 8 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for wink at