nudge

play

verb \ ˈnəj \

Definition of nudge

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 mark
—Bennett Cerf

intransitive verb

:to give a nudge

She nudged and jostled through the crowd.

—

nudge

noun

—

nudger

noun

See nudge defined for English-language learners

See nudge defined for kids

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 of nudge from the Web

The Australian just barely nudged ahead of Hagen at the last moment to win his second stage of the tour.

— connor grossman, SI.com, "Tour de France Stage 16 results: Matthews wins, Froome maintains slim overall lead," 19 July 2017
Officials said Guterres' presence at the talks last week helped nudge the process forward after several days when progress was slow.

— Bloomberg.com, "Cyprus Peace Talks Still Awaiting Breakthrough," 3 July 2017
Officials said Guterres' presence at the talks last week helped nudge the process forward after several days when progress was slow.

— menelaos hadjicostis, chicagotribune.com, "Cyprus talks on reunifying island nation intensify," 3 July 2017
Giving the works titles could nudge interpretation in the direction of his own inspiration.

— susan dunne, courant.com, "NBMAA's Largest Exhibit Shows Off 'L.A. Cool' Artists," 29 June 2017
Baum and Kerr hope the long-overdue appointment of a national science adviser will eventually nudge the governing Liberals toward implementing new funding policies.

— wayne kondro, Science | AAAS, "Canada’s basic science at risk of fading away, report argues," 28 June 2017
Six years later, President Obama killed that funding, nudging the hydrogen car onto the list of technology that was, and always would be, about ten years away.

— Popular Mechanics, "Meet the Next Generation of the Hydrogen Car," 26 June 2017
But the penalty, called the individual mandate, plays a vital function: nudging healthy people into the insurance markets where their premiums help pay for the cost of care for the sick.

— anna gorman, Kaiser Health News, "Senate And House Take Different Plans To Scrap Individual Mandate," 26 June 2017
Coulianos had been nudged out the door, his outlook now considered too fruity, too dated.

— david kamp, GQ, "It All Started Here: The Gay Legacy of GQ," 23 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nudge.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of nudge

origin unknown

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1675

See Words from the same year

nudge Synonyms

Synonyms

graze, kiss, ²brush, shave, skim

Related Words

bump, contact, scrape, sideswipe, strike, sweep, swipe, touch; bounce, carom, glance, rebound, ricochet, skip; caress, cuddle, fondle, love, pat, pet, stroke; miss, skirt

Near Antonyms

bang, bash, bump, clash, collide, crash, hit, impact, impinge, knock, punch, ram, slam, slap, smack, smash, swipe, thud, thwack, whack

NUDGE Defined for English Language Learners

nudge

play

verb

Definition of nudge for English Language Learners

: to touch or push (someone or something) gently
: to push (someone) gently with your elbow in order to get that person's attention
: to encourage (someone) to do something

NUDGE Defined for Kids

nudge

play

verb \ ˈnəj \

Definition of nudge for Students

nudged; nudging

1 :to touch or push gently

The teacher nudged her students back to class.

2 :to attract the attention of by touching or pushing gently (as with the elbow)

He nudged me and pointed to the huge cake on the table.

nudge

noun

Definition of nudge for Students

:a slight push

Judy gave Peter a nudge to wake him.
—Chris Van Allsburg, Jumanji

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