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. To make gestures or motions, as in speaking; to use postures.
- v. To say or express through gestures.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make gestures or motions, as in speaking; to use postures.
- v. To represent by gesture; to act.
WordNet 3.0
- v. show, express or direct through movement
Etymologies
- Latin gesticulārī, gesticulāt-, from gesticulus, gesticulation, diminutive of gestus, gesture, bearing; see gesture.
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’.
-
3/4 year Vocab List
garbled, verbose, behoove, runt, douse, stipulate, condolence, incongruous, mundane, euphemism, brusque, labyrinth and 96 more...
-
3/4 year Vocab List
lackluster, reprimand, loathe, abhor, willful, ample, tremulous, ominous, subtle, rescind, redundant, pretentious and 96 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...
-
The Aleph
Words found in a collection of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges.
travail, magnanimous, troglodyte, euphorbia, satyr, lascivious, caustic, frontispiece, temerity, vertiginous, frieze, cupola and 72 more...
-
Vocab #7
pretext, fabricate, adroit, gesticulate, vigilant, benevolent, avid, feign, imminent, lethargic
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