All Words > Nictate

illustration Nictate

Nictate

[NIK-tayt]

Part of speech: verb

Origin: Latin, late 17th century

1.

Blink.

Examples of Nictate in a sentence

"In order to win a staring contest, you must resist the urge to nictate."

"The doctor instructed me to nictate several times after using the antibiotic eye drops."

About Nictate

Nictate, an alternate word for "blink," developed in Latin, from the verb "nictare" ("to blink") and the medieval Latin word "nictitate."

Did you Know?

Nictating (blinking) is an automatic process, as are digestion and respiration. However, there are always people out there who want to test the limits of the human body. There is a claimed world record for time spent without blinking of 40 minutes and 59 seconds, but, interestingly, the Guinness Book of World Records doesn't accept applications around blinking, because it claims it is unable to measure them.

illustration Nictate

Recent Words

What's the word?