nudge

verb

nudged; nudging

transitive verb

1
: to touch or push gently
nudged the cue ball with the tip of the cue.Paul Theroux
especially : to seek the attention of by a push of the elbow
nudged Ron in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy … J. K. Rowling
2
: to prod lightly : urge into action
… have been nudged into starting their own ventures …Janet Bamford
3
: approach
its circulation is nudging the four million markBennett Cerf

intransitive verb

: to give a nudge
She nudged and jostled through the crowd.
nudge noun
nudger noun

Examples of nudge in a Sentence

I nudged the plate closer to him. The guard nudged the prisoner forward. The dog nudged the ball with his nose. He nudged me and pointed to the deer. The salesman nudged her into testing out the car. Album sales are nudging the one million mark. The price of gold has nudged a little higher.
Recent Examples on the Web Since 1984, when the Fed slashed interest rates to nudge them back to normal after a flurry of rate hikes, the S&P 500 index has climbed an average of 13.2% in the following 12 months, according to Detrick’s analysis. Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2024 Supply shortages, such as for sugar and cocoa, will force price increases for Oreos and Ritz, and grocery stores may want to nudge customers towards their own cheaper private brands by keeping name brand costs higher. Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024 The debate has been bubbling for months, as countries nearest to Russia – such as Poland and the former Soviet Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – have tried to nudge other European leaders toward the more assertive Option 2. Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Mar. 2024 Enough voters saw the film to give it five nominations, a haul that nudged other academy members to check it out. Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 If Biden succeeds, his critics will say that their alarms nudged him to victory. Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 In time though, social media nudged him toward more nefarious forums; soon, the teenager started retweeting videos produced by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2024 This results in high river plume pushing into the Gulf and nudging the tuna farther offshore, where salinity levels remain favorable for predators and forage. David A. Brown, Field & Stream, 7 Mar. 2024 China’s only notable diplomatic achievement in the region was to nudge last year’s Iranian-Saudi rapprochement across the finish line, but most of the hard work was done elsewhere. Gregg Carlstrom, Foreign Affairs, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nudge.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1675, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of nudge was in 1675

Dictionary Entries Near nudge

Cite this Entry

“Nudge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nudge. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

nudge

verb
nudged; nudging
: to touch or push gently
especially : to attract the attention of by a push of the elbow
nudge noun

More from Merriam-Webster on nudge

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