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
• graze
• kiss
• shave
• skim

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 overall their numbers sagged and big donors were said to have stopped writing checks in an effort to nudge Biden to the campaign exits. —Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 22 July 2024

In this week’s American Association of Individual Investors survey , bullishness hit 52.7%, just a shade off its 12-month peak while bearishness nudged higher but to just 23.4%. —Jeff Cox, CNBC, 20 July 2024

As much as familiarity seems to be going about its age-old business of breeding contempt, an ongoing effort to nudge the sitting president from the top of the Democratic ticket would change the tenor of this election overnight. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 19 July 2024

In the meantime, charging limits could nudge drivers' behavior in the right direction. —Joann Muller, Axios, 15 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1675, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

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