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
Your 9th House of Expansion is energized by Venus and Chiron aligning, nudging you to choose growth over perfection in an expanding field.
—Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 26 Mar. 2026
But the Tarantino fetish becomes so pronounced in Russian writer-director Kirill Sokolov’s addition to the grungy revenge-thriller that every quick zoom and shock-cinema score cue starts to feel less like an adrenaline spike and more like a rib nudge.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 Mar. 2026
In practical terms, those hedging flows have acted like a magnet, nudging Bitcoin higher while capping gains.
—Sidhartha Shukla, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2026
Life, however, nudged her back into the spotlight.
—Bryan West, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for nudge
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 26 Mar. 2026
But the Tarantino fetish becomes so pronounced in Russian writer-director Kirill Sokolov’s addition to the grungy revenge-thriller that every quick zoom and shock-cinema score cue starts to feel less like an adrenaline spike and more like a rib nudge.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 26 Mar. 2026
In practical terms, those hedging flows have acted like a magnet, nudging Bitcoin higher while capping gains.
—Sidhartha Shukla, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2026
Life, however, nudged her back into the spotlight.
—Bryan West, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for nudge
Cite this Entry
“Nudge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nudge. Accessed 29 Mar. 2026.
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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
