nudge

verb

ˈnəj 

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

Synonyms

• brush
• kiss
• touch

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

The staff also nudged them to members of O’Hara’s social and artistic world, including the artist Nell Blaine and the poet Kenneth Koch. —Brian Schaefer july 7, Literary Hub, 7 July 2025

Meanwhile, condos nudged down the average with a value drop of less than 1% countywide. —Douglas Hanks july 5, Miami Herald, 5 July 2025

The role from behind is one of encouraging, prodding, nudging. —Lauren Dow Wegner, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025

Amazon joined the quantum party, nudging some of its chief cloud rivals like Google and Microsoft in the race for potential payoff when quantum goes commercial. —John Prisco, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1675, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for nudge

• budge
• drudge
• frage
• fudge
• grudge
• judge
• mudge
• rudge
• sludge
• smudge
• trudge
• adjudge

Kids Definition

nudge

verb

ˈnəj 

nudged; nudging

: to touch or push gently

especially : to attract the attention of by a push of the elbow

nudge noun