in the blink of an eye

I

in the blink of an eye
also, in the twinkling of an eye

Meaning

• in an instant
• very quickly
• extremely swiftly
• in no time

Example Sentences

1. In the blink of an eye, the robber disappeared from the bank with a bag full of cash.
2. I wonder about how her life has changed in the blink of an eye.
3. Life can change in the blink of an eye.
4. In the blink of an eye, the apple of my eye is one year old.
5. Whole industries are now being turned upside down in the blink of an eye.
6. The whole night passes in the twinkling of an eye with you.
7. And in the twinkling of an eye, the animal popped out of the water with its mouth open.
8. In the twinkling of an eye, her message drastically altered the course of my life.
9. In the twinkling of an eye, the head man sprang forward, and the assassin was foiled.
10. Time seems to go by so fast in the blink of an eye.

Origin

In the blink of an eye is evolved from the original expression, in the twinkling of an eye.

The earliest printed record of the phrase dates back to 1303 by Robert Manning of Brunne, in Handlyng Synne – a Middle English verse devotional work.

Yn twynkelyng of an ye

It was also found in the Bible – I Corinthians 15:51-52 (King James Version). The verse in question is about what will happen at the end of the world.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall al be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

William Shakespeare later used it in The Merchant Of Venice, 1596:

I’ll take my leave of the Jew in the twinkling of an eye.

The earliest printed records of “the blink of an eye” (as used in the present) is from Chambers’s Edinburgh journal of Popular Literature conducted by W. Chambers, 1874:

She’s that quick, she was gone like the blink of an eye ; and, besides, Jenny, she is not one to be easily hindered when she ‘s set upon a thing.

Eyes, Time