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What does “wink up” mean?

Series 1, episode 3 of Riot Women , Kitty Eckersley tells Jess Burchill that she thinks a nail salon where she previously worked has “winked up.” I’m guessing

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What does “wink up” mean?

admissions ▲ 4 1 views 2026-07-16

Series 1, episode 3 of Riot Women, Kitty Eckersley tells Jess Burchill that she thinks a nail salon where she previously worked has “winked up.”

I’m guessing it’s Brit (maybe Yorkshire) slang for “closed, gone out of business,” but Google turns up nothing for the phrase. And likewise for Wiktionary.

Is it a common expression? In which dialects? Did I get the meaning correct from context?

Source: PaulTanenbaum on Stack Exchange — CC BY-SA 4.0.

2 Answers

I've never heard of "winked up", although I'm familiar with most British dialects and slang. The most similar-sounding expression that springs to mind would be "wound up" (past tense of wind+up)...

Source: user46359 on Stack Exchange — CC BY-SA 4.0.

Funnily enough, Google AI now claims that 'winked up' is regional slang, in Northern England, for 'shut down'. The only source cited is this discussion!

Anyway, I've never heard anyone say 'winked up' in any context; it's possible that whoever wrote the script managed to mangle the expression 'winked out', which refers to a light being extinguished. Quite what it has to do with a beauty parlour going out of business is anyone's guess...

Source: Ditzy Mitzy on Stack Exchange — CC BY-SA 4.0.

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