blick
/blɪk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.23 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The brightening or iridescence appearing on silver or gold at the end of the cupelling or refinishing process.
Example Sentences
- "Shirley Steynes Bluey took a deep breath as he entered the main street; nothing new under the sun-lamp as white pinks blicked across the street in a line of heat-glazed asterisks"
- "The lancing sunlight blicked sharps of light from the scattering of sand on the marble of the plinth."
- "The recorder blicked off, and the tape hissed to the end of the reel in silence."
- "He pulled out a cigarette lighter and blicked it."
- "On her first day, as she walked into work[…][s]he blicked-in at the time clock[…]"
- "The nearer the process approaches to the “Blick,” the slower is the formation of litharge, till at last it can only be continued by a very strong fire."
Etymology
Perhaps onomatopoeic; perhaps an error for, or a nonce alteration of, blink or click; perhaps a continuation of Middle English bliken (compare blicker), which may have survived in dialect despite not being attested in print for 500 years.