nudge

\ ˈnəj

nudged; nudging

Definition of nudge

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.

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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 But attitudes are changing, nudged forward by legislation and litigation. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "Seven jails start providing medications for addiction in pilot program," 5 Sep. 2019 And that the Norwegians can nudge them in the right direction. — CBS News, "Transcript: Juan Cruz talks with Michael Morell on "Intelligence Matters"," 14 Aug. 2019 Investors do not think that central banks are on track to nudge inflation up any time soon. — The Economist, "As yields turn negative, investors are having to pay for safety," 8 Aug. 2019 Jeralt is nudged back into the fold of the Knights of Seiros and, in a head-turning career elevation which may depress post-grads struggling on the job market, Byleth is made a professor at the Academy on Alois’s recommendation. — Washington Post, "‘Fire Emblem: The Three Houses’ is a fun strategy game — if you have enough hours in the day," 26 July 2019 To keep sales going, all a retailer has to do is ensure customers stick to the brand, keep coming back to the store, and nudge them to spend more. — Sangeeta Tanwar, Quartz India, "The “Zara of small-town India” is unfazed by Walmart and Amazon," 23 July 2019 Stocks shook off an early wobble to eke out small gains Tuesday, nudging the S&P 500 index to an all-time high for the second straight day. — Alex Veiga, SFChronicle.com, "Stocks rebound, S&P 500 hits a record again," 2 July 2019 They hadn’t needed to push themselves against Thailand or Chile and were moderately nudged by Sweden in group play. — Helene Elliott, latimes.com, "Megan Rapinoe’s sure-footed determination is powering U.S. in World Cup," 24 June 2019 Wages at big banks began nudging up a few years ago as industry profits reached their highest levels since the financial crisis. — oregonlive, "Bank of America to raise minimum wage to $20 a hour by 2021," 9 Apr. 2019

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.