twinkling

in a twinkling

At once; very quickly or suddenly or nearly immediately. Our storewide sale will only be available as supplies last, so be sure to hurry—these deals are going to be gone in a twinkling! When faced with the need to save costs, the management decided the fates of lower-level workers in a twinkling, without any serious deliberation.
See also: twinkling

in the twinkling of an eye

Immediately; very quickly; at once. Just call us on this number if you have any problems, and we'll be back in the twinkling of an eye. Don't worry, boss, I'll have this report typed up in the twinkling of an eye!
See also: eye, of, twinkling

twinkle with (something)

1. To flicker or glimmer with intermittent gleams coming from or reflecting off of something. The tree twinkled with the beautiful strings of lights. Her dress positively twinkled with sequins.
2. Of eyes, to seem bright because of some emotion or action. The kids' eyes twinkled with excitement as we pulled into the amusement park. My grandfather's eyes always twinkled with mischief whenever he told that story.
See also: twinkle
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

in the twinkling of an eye

 and in the wink of an eye
Fig. very quickly. In the twinkling of an eye, the deer had disappeared into the forest. I gave Bill ten dollars and, in the twinkling of an eye, he spent it.
See also: eye, of, twinkling
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

in the twinkling of an eye

In an instant, as in The breakup of Yugoslavia created many warring nations in the twinkling of an eye. This hyperbolic expression, which alludes to the very brief time it takes for an eye to blink, is heard less often today. [c. 1300]
See also: eye, of, twinkling
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

in a twinkling (or the twinkling of an eye)

in an instant; very quickly.
A twinkling is the time taken to wink or blink an eye. The phrase can be traced back to 1 Corinthians 15:52: ‘In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed’, and it has been in figurative sense since medieval times.
See also: twinkling
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

in the ˌtwinkling of an ˈeye

very quickly: Her mood can change in the twinkling of an eye.
See also: eye, of, twinkling
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

twinkling of an eye, in the

Very fast; quick as a wink. This reference to the speed of the blink of an eye comes from the Bible, where Paul, writing of the Last Judgment, says, “. . . we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump . . . the dead shall be raised incorruptible” (1 Corinthians, 15:51–52).
See also: of, twinkling
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • in a snap
  • in a trice
  • in a twinkling
  • in two shakes of a lamb's tail
  • hurry (someone or something) in(to some place)
  • hurry in
  • hurry up and (do something)
  • get a hurry on
  • hurry back to (someone or something)
  • hurry up
References in periodicals archive
"At the same time, we have gone beyond Twinkling Artifact and utilized what we know with some other knowledge about kidney stones to create specific modes for kidney stones," Bailey said.
"We present the stone in a way that looks like it is twinkling in an image in which the anatomy is black and white, with one brightly colored stone or multiple coloured stones."
Soon, 'twinkling' ultrasound technology to help treat kidney stones
Overhead, the stars are twinkling and children are flying!
Design with imagination
the 50 Indoor Twinkling Clear Lights; 40 Indoor Multicolour Lights;
Fire-risk fairy lights recalled
Astronomers have devised systems that measure twinkling by analyzing the image of a nearby reference source, such as a bright star near the object of interest.
Getting a Clear View
Stars look as if they are twinkling because of what happens in the layers of air surrounding the Earth.
My friend Keith and I always wondered why stars twinkle
Surrounded by numerous Other clouds, with no affinity, Floating speechless, seeing and Hearing sounds of other worlds Silent passers-by, the Stars, billions of miles of distance Twinkling toward Earth Yet beyond that twinkling light Other worlds in existence!
Reader's poem
A couple of months later, Copeland saw the same coordinated display twinkling in Congaree Swamp National Monument in South Carolina.
U.S. Fireflies Flashing in Unison
By shining laser light into the sample, they could monitor how the density fluctuations scattered light, making the sample look like a twinkling star.
Creeping to a critical point; probing a liquid-vapor interface in a microgravity setting
In one test, the researchers directed four volunteers to watch a computer screen with a background of twinkling dots in different shades of gray.
Vision system puts eyesight in blind spots
Another kind of twinkling takes place in the ionosphere, the layer of charged particles at higher altitudes, where similar turbulence and other factors cause the number of electrons to fluctuate.
Radio twinkling in Venusian ionosphere