nudged; nudging
1
: to touch or push gently
… nudged the cue ball with the tip of the cue.—
Paul Theroux
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
J. K. Rowling 2
: to prod lightly : urge into action
… have been nudged into starting their own ventures …—Janet Bamford
Janet Bamford3
: approach
its circulation is nudging the four million mark—Bennett Cerf
Bennett Cerf
: 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
Hull says that some effective safety tweaks to existing chatbots would be relatively simple — they could be programmed to nudge a user to disengage during late-night hours, for instance.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
Their losses could nudge Izzo toward some lineups where Carr is at the 3 and the spacing really suffers.
—Cj Moore, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
As the new month begins on October 1st, Juno enters Sagittarius and lights up your communication and curiosity sector, nudging you to speak from your gut instead of your script.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 29 Sep. 2025
All of Florida’s tropical storm watches, which covered a swath of the East Coast, were rescinded Sunday afternoon as Tropical Storm Imelda’s forecast track continued to nudge further offshore.
—Alex Harris
updated September 28, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nudge
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Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
Their losses could nudge Izzo toward some lineups where Carr is at the 3 and the spacing really suffers.
—Cj Moore, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
As the new month begins on October 1st, Juno enters Sagittarius and lights up your communication and curiosity sector, nudging you to speak from your gut instead of your script.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 29 Sep. 2025
All of Florida’s tropical storm watches, which covered a swath of the East Coast, were rescinded Sunday afternoon as Tropical Storm Imelda’s forecast track continued to nudge further offshore.
—Alex Harris
updated September 28, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nudge
Cite this Entry
“Nudge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nudge. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
nudge
verb
nudged; nudging
: to touch or push gently
especially
: to attract the attention of by a push of the elbow
nudge
noun
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