gesture

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“
He thought the gesture was a refusal.

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun A motion of the limbs or body made to express or help express thought or to emphasize speech.
  2. noun The act of moving the limbs or body as an expression of thought or emphasis.
  3. noun An act or a remark made as a formality or as a sign of intention or attitude: sent flowers as a gesture of sympathy.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (4)

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Examples (50)

  • In this heat every extra gesture was an affront to the common store of life. —  The Great Gatsby / by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • The name seemed to allude to the Crucifixion, and the gesture was a matter of pressing index fingers into each other's palms. —  Secret Ceremonies
  • But seeing you this way ... well, the gesture is appreciated, but it's also one of those things I've tried not to think about Marie slowly nodded. —  Asimov'sSF,April-May2007
  • Pius X Society, the Society's superior general Bishop Bernard Fellay wrote that the gesture was a fruit of ardent praying of the Rosary to Our Lady of Lourdes, and he reaffirmed faith in the Roman Catholic Church and obedience to the Pope. —  New Liturgical Movement
  • We all knew, there and then, what the gesture was all about. —  Home | Mail Online
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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

expression ·  smile ·  attitude ·  glance ·  nod ·  sign ·  accent ·  touch ·  feel ·  motion ·  cry ·  fashion

Used in the same contextWord Family

gesture:   gestures ·  gestured ·  gesturing
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Medieval Latin gestūra, bearing, from Latin gestus, past participle of gerere, to behave.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle Latin gestura, a mode of action, from Latingerere, past participle gestus, bear, reflexive bear oneself, behave, act: see gest, gest.
  2. from gesture, n.
 

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/ˈdʒɛstʃər/
by American Heritage

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