wink [OE] Today someone who winks closes and opens an eye quickly. In Anglo-Saxon times to wink was simply to close the eyes. Hoodwink, meaning ‘to trick or deceive’, harks back to this original meaning. To hoodwink someone in the 16th century was to blindfold with a hood, before an execution or while attacking them. The modern metaphorical sense developed early the next century. To tip someone the wink is an example of old underworld slang or ‘rogues’ cant’ recorded from the 17th century. It is probably the source of tip [M19th] in the sense of ‘a useful piece of advice’. Tip here means simply ‘to give, allow to have’—its use in sentences like ‘tip me a shilling’ led to the modern sense of tip [E17th], ‘a sum of money given as a reward for good service’. See also nod.