Nod

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /nÉ’d/
• US IPA: /nÉ‘d/
• Australia IPA: /nÉ”d/

Origin

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

Online Etymology Dictionary

Full definition of nod

Verb

1. (transitive and intransitive) To incline the head up and down, as to indicate agreement.
2. (transitive and intransitive) To sway, move up and down.
• KeatsBy every wind that nods the mountain pine.
• 1819 "Frail snowdrops that together cling
  and nod their helmets, smitten by the wing
  of many a furious whirl-blast sweeping by." (Wordsworth, On Seeing a Tuft of Snowdrops in a Storm)
3. (intransitive) To gradually fall asleep.
4. (intransitive) To make a mistake by being temporarily inattentive or tiredEven Homer nods.
5. (intransitive, soccer) To head; to strike the ball with one's head.
• 2010, December 29, Chris Whyatt, Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton, With the hosts not able to find their passes - everything that went forward was too heavy or too short - Terry once again had to come to his side's rescue after Davies had brilliantly nodded into the path of Elmander, who followed up swiftly with a deflected shot.
6. (intransitive, figuratively) To allude to something.
• March 15 2012, Soctt Tobias, The Kid With A Bike ReviewThough the title nods to the Italian neo-realist classic Bicycle Thieves—and Cyril, much like the father and son in that movie, spends much of his time tracking down the oft-stolen possession—The Kid With A Bike isn’t about the bike as something essential to his livelihood, but as his sole connection to the freedom and play of childhood itself.
7. (intransitive, slang) To fall asleep while under the influence of opiates.

Related terms

• nod off
• nod out
• nodding disease, nodding syndrome

Noun

1. An instance of moving one's head as described above.
2. A reference or allusion to something.
• 2012, May 31, Tasha Robinson, Film: Review: Snow White And The Huntsman, Much like Mirror Mirror, Huntsman appears to borrow liberally from other fantasy films. Sometimes the nods are clever—Stewart’s first night in the forest, among hallucinatory fog that gives the trees faces and clutching hands, evokes Disney’s animated Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs from 1937.

Anagrams

• don, Don, don'