phrase

• (of a machine) not working properly; out of order.

  More example sentences

  • ‘the computer's on the blink’
  • ‘The chip fat filtering machine went on the blink and a manager decided to cut corners.’
  • ‘But it's the relatively trivial things which are the most maddening and frustrating - TVs conking out, ovens going on the blink, computers crashing.’
  • ‘In exasperation Alan finally said: ‘Either there's something wrong with your modem or your computer's on the blink.’’
  • ‘I opt for a full breakfast in my room - it arrives piping hot - the only hitch being that the cappuccino machine (there's one in each villa) is on the blink.’
  • ‘If the washing machine goes on the blink it has to be winched on to the ferry and it's gone for a fortnight.’
  • ‘It also had the effect of making visitors think their monitor was on the blink.’
  • ‘Nowadays when your solid-state, instant-on color TV goes on the blink, you phone the TV repairman for an appointment.’
  • ‘The traffic lights operated correctly last week but come Sunday morning they were dangerously on the blink again, changing colour with bewildering rapidity.’
  • ‘The home air-conditioner is on the blink and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive over and tell me he needed to order parts.’
  • ‘Residents of a ‘sister’ tower block to the one where tenants have been waiting since January for lift repairs say their elevators are now on the blink.’

  Synonyms

  damaged, faulty, defective, unsound