Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To make gestures especially while speaking, as for emphasis.
- v. To say or express by gestures.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make gestures; express thoughts or desires, or emphasize or illustrate speech, by motions of the body or any part of it, especially the hands and arms.
- To express or represent by gestures; imitate; enact.
Wiktionary
- v. intransitive To make gestures or motions, as in speaking; to use postures.
- v. transitive To say or express through gestures.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make gestures or motions, as in speaking; to use postures.
- v. rare To represent by gesture; to act.
WordNet 3.0
- v. show, express or direct through movement
Etymologies
- From Latin gesticulatus, past participle of gesticulari (to gesticulate) from gesticulus (a mimic gesture), diminutive of gestus (gesture), from gerere, gestum (to bear, carry, perform). (Wiktionary)
- Latin gesticulārī, gesticulāt-, from gesticulus, gesticulation, diminutive of gestus, gesture, bearing; see gesture. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Sometimes they totter and gesticulate joltingly at ground level, like dolls brought to life.”
The Washington Post: Creative Cirko De Mente evokes . . . well, it's hard to say
“This, said Kierkegaard, is the situation of Christians: The more they gesticulate with their creed, the more laughable they seem to their skeptical neighbors, until the world becomes engulfed in the flames of war and mutual hatred -- a hell on earth as prelude to the hell after death.”
“I love it when people gesticulate with their hands because in psychological terms, it is a sign of an active mind and warmth and vibrancy.”
Cheeseburger Gothic » Here’s what I did at six o’clock this morning.
“Apple is designing a television that you can shout and gesticulate at – and it will understand you.”
The Guardian: Next up for Apple, it's iTV – the television that will respond when you shout at it
“A: This woman I live with tells me that when I'm writing dialogue I gesticulate a lot, like I'm acting it out.”
“They look so good as they gesticulate passionately in the city's overflowing cafés or file into its steakhouses, entire family in tow, for dinner at 10 p.m.”
“Opening his hands to gesticulate, he breaks into a smile, explaining, Look.”
“Continuing to gesticulate with hispalm, Mundie moved fromthe 3D street scene into anart gallery; he nextpulled an art object off a pedestal and yanked it off the screen, making it appear tohover in the room of reporters wearing 3D eyeglasses ..”
“The professor sat behind his desk, which he never did (preferring usually to stand and pace, to gesticulate during his dense and unapproachable lectures).”
“Utahdrivers seem to move faster thanIdahodrivers, and at one point I merged in front of a van who despite needing fifteen to twenty seconds to even catch up to our car felt the need to honk, gesticulate, swerve around, flip us off again and fly ahead.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘gesticulate’.
-
1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
-
3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
-
3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
-
Naresh_Special
portent, organically, malicious, sham, olfactory, vertebrates, protuberance, sensilla, flagitious, pleonastic, exiguous, wayward and 102 more...
-
GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
-
(1st_wk_150)-Dec_5_2012
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron, paradox, realm and 297 more...
-
prometheous's list
these words just tickle me for whatever reason
orange, tempestuous, meander, giggle, promulgate, moreover, gesticulate, huzzah, spontaneity, surreptitious, superfluous, plebeian and 1 more...
-
For Summer
analogous, prestidigitation, defenestrate, crux, supercilious, sunglasses, replete, foment, anthropomorphic, iota, intrinsic, prosaic and 29 more...
-
GRE
intrepid, accost, reticent, furtive, pretext, gesticulate, cajole, nuance, lackluster, jostle, incipient, inadvertent and 4 more...
-
GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
-
big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
-
1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron, paradox, realm and 288 more...
-
Personal Vocabulary List
All my favourite words that I come across!
veritable, incongruence, rigamorole, letcherous, revolting, repulsive, reputrid, rapatious, forays, guise, placate, paradigm and 1162 more...
-
slumry's Words
cattywampus, ingratiate, lackadaisical, exactitude, exfoliate, fulminate, circumnavigation, circuitous, debride, sidle, sequester, chicory and 1002 more...
-
thekatespanos's list
pomposity, gaggle, scintilla, lemming, bilk, vanquish, conflate, plenary, verisimilitude, perspicacious, rattletrap, obdurate and 325 more...
-
What Do You Mean $
ahh these hurt.....
hermit, prone, maxim, guise, solvenly, lurid, lax, amiable, irate, cloister, mediate, nettle and 100 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for gesticulate.
PossibleUnderscore "Well, that's only four and there are four of us." said Athos, "That's equal numbers! Look, there's Grimaud gesticulating!"
-The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas Aug 1, 2009