Nod
verbTo lower and raise the head quickly, usually to signal agreement, greeting, or drowsiness.
How to spell nod
3 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce nod
What does nod mean?
- verbTo lower and raise the head quickly, usually to signal agreement, greeting, or drowsiness.
- nounA quick downward movement of the head used as a signal of agreement or greeting.
Nod in a sentence
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verb
The manager will nod when she agrees with a proposal.
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noun
A single nod from the chairman ended the debate.
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verb
Tired commuters often nod as the train rocks them to sleep.
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noun
She gave the waiter a quick nod to confirm the order.
Where does nod come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
Nod first appears in English in the late 1300s as the Middle English verb 'nodden', meaning to bend the head quickly forward. Its ultimate origin is genuinely uncertain, though scholars often link it to Low German or other West Germanic words for shaking or moving, such as the Old High German 'hnoton' meaning to shake. From the literal sense of dipping the head, the word branched into a range of familiar meanings: signalling agreement, greeting someone, and letting the head droop with sleepiness, as in the phrase 'to nod off'. Because the spelling is so short and phonetic, it carries no real trap; the only point of interest is that this everyday gesture word has no clear documented ancestor, which is why dictionaries label it of obscure origin.
How the word is built
- nod (single root, no prefix or suffix)
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