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
Far from contemporary pop, each note and lyric demands your full attention; the reward is transcendence, even as the material nudges you to annotate like a philosophy student with a highlighter in hand.
—Thania Garcia, Variety, 6 Nov. 2025
The city established new smart meters in 2022 to track water usage, and introduced a fee system in March 2025 to nudge people into compliance with the city’s ordinance.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Nov. 2025
By showing that light can quite literally nudge atoms in two-dimensional semiconductors, the research opens a path toward tunable, light-responsive materials that could reshape the future of computing and sensing, one photon push at a time.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 4 Nov. 2025
Blundy first bought into Victoria’s Secret in 2022 and has been trying to nudge the company both behind the scenes and in public.
—Evan Clark, Footwear News, 4 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nudge
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Thania Garcia, Variety, 6 Nov. 2025
The city established new smart meters in 2022 to track water usage, and introduced a fee system in March 2025 to nudge people into compliance with the city’s ordinance.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Nov. 2025
By showing that light can quite literally nudge atoms in two-dimensional semiconductors, the research opens a path toward tunable, light-responsive materials that could reshape the future of computing and sensing, one photon push at a time.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 4 Nov. 2025
Blundy first bought into Victoria’s Secret in 2022 and has been trying to nudge the company both behind the scenes and in public.
—Evan Clark, Footwear News, 4 Nov. 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 10 Nov. 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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