Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To lower and raise the head quickly, as in agreement or acknowledgment.
  • intransitive verb To let the head fall forward when sleepy.
  • intransitive verb To be careless or momentarily inattentive as if sleepy; lapse.
  • intransitive verb To sway, move up and down, or droop, as flowers in the wind.
  • intransitive verb To lower and raise (the head) quickly in agreement or acknowledgment.
  • intransitive verb To express by lowering and raising the head.
  • intransitive verb To summon, guide, or send by nodding the head.
  • noun A forward or up-and-down movement of the head, usually expressive of drowsiness or agreement.
  • noun An indication of approval or assent.
  • noun Informal A nomination for an award.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A short, quick, forward and downward motion of the head, either voluntary, as when used as a familiar salutation, a sign of assent or approbation, or given as a signal, command, etc., or involuntary, as when one is drowsy or sleepy.
  • noun A quick forward or downward inclination of the upper part or top of anything.
  • To incline or droop the head forward with a short, quick, involuntary motion, as when drowsy or sleepy; specifically, in botany, to droop or curve downward by a short bend in the peduncle: said of flowers. See nodding, p. a.
  • Figuratively, to be guilty of a lapse or inadvertence, as when nodding with drowsiness.
  • To salute, beckon, or express assent by a slight, quick inclination of the head.
  • To bend or incline the top or part corresponding to the head with a quick jerky motion, simulating the nodding of a drowsy person.
  • To incline or bend, as the head or top.
  • To signify by a nod: as, to nod assent.
  • To affect by a nod or nods in a manner expressed by a word or words connected: as, to nod one out of the room; to nod one's head off.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To bend or incline the upper part, with a quick motion.
  • intransitive verb To incline the head with a quick motion; to make a slight bow; to make a motion of assent, of salutation, or of drowsiness, with the head.
  • intransitive verb To be careless or inattentive; to make a mistake from lack of attention.
  • intransitive verb To be drowsy or dull; to doze off, especially while in a sitting position.
  • noun A dropping or bending forward of the upper part or top of anything.
  • noun A quick or slight downward or forward motion of the head, in assent, in familiar salutation, in drowsiness, or in giving a signal, or a command.
  • noun sleep.
  • transitive verb To incline or bend, as the head or top; to make a motion of assent, of salutation, or of drowsiness with.
  • transitive verb To signify by a nod.
  • transitive verb Poetic To cause to bend.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive and intransitive To incline the head up and down, as to indicate agreement.
  • verb transitive and intransitive to sway, move up and down
  • verb intransitive To gradually fall asleep.
  • verb intransitive To make a mistake by being temporarily inattentive or tired
  • verb intransitive, soccer To head; to strike the ball with one's head.
  • verb intransitive, figuratively To allude to something.
  • verb intransitive, slang To fall asleep while under the influence of opiates.
  • noun An instance of moving one's head as described above.
  • noun A reference or allusion to something.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb let the head fall forward through drowsiness
  • verb express or signify by nodding
  • verb lower and raise the head, as to indicate assent or agreement or confirmation
  • noun a sign of assent or salutation or command
  • verb sway gently back and forth, as in a nodding motion
  • verb be almost asleep
  • noun the act of nodding the head

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English nodden; perhaps akin to Middle High German notten.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Unknown. Dates to late 14th century, probably comes from Old English; may be related to Old High German hnoton ("to shake"), from Proto-Germanic *hnudōnan.

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  • Don in reverse.

    November 3, 2007