nictitate means to wink or blink. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
nictitate is pronounced /ˈnɪktɪteɪt/.
Why “nictitate” is a great word
NICTITATE — [Verb] To wink or blink, especially involuntarily. A back-formation from 'nictitating' (as in 'nictitating membrane'), ultimately from the Latin *nictitare*, a frequentative of *nictare* ("to wink, blink"). First recorded in English in the 1620s. Unlike "blink" (a general, reflexive shutter) or "wink" (a deliberate, social signal), to nictitate is a precise, biological action. It is the translucent third eyelid of a bird sliding sideways in flight, the ghostly shuttering of a frog's eye as it swallows, or the rapid, unseen flutter that clears dust from a reptile's stare—a vestigial word for a motion that persists, unseen, in the silent grammar of survival.
Etymology
Back-formation from nictitating.