From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishldoce_237_cnudgenudge /nʌdʒ/ verb 1 [transitive]PUSH to push someone gently, usually with your elbow, in order to get their attention Jill nudged him in the ribs.► see thesaurus at push2 [transitive always + adverb/preposition]PUSH to move something or someone a short distance by gently pushing She nudged the glass towards me. David nudged me out of the way.3 [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition]PUSH to move forward slowly by pushing gentlynudge your way to/through etc (something) I started to nudge my way to the front of the crowd.4 [transitive always + adverb/preposition]PERSUADE to gently persuade or encourage someone to take a particular decision or actionnudge somebody into/towards something We’re trying to nudge them towards a practical solution.5 [transitive]ALMOST to almost reach a particular level or amount Outside the temperature was nudging 30 degrees Celsius. —nudge noun [countable] Hannah gave me a gentle nudge.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
nudge• They nudged each other as the principal called their names.• An old woman nudged her way to the back of the bus.• She was also instrumental in nudging him into giving 25 percent of the positions in the Socialist Party to women.• But he didn't nudge him.• Death must be nudged, hurried, if only it could be.• Eventually, I was nudged into management.• Temperatures were already nudging into the 80s before dawn today.• Christine nudged me and giggled.• Benjamin nudged me as Westminster Abbey came into view.• Toby nudged my arm. "That's the guy I told you about, " he whispered.• They were satisfied to learn, to come up with new ideas, and to nudge the field forward.• Southeast winds nudged the oil slick onto the shore.• A heavily burnt in sky will blend better with the foreground as the flash will nudge those highlights along.From Longman Business Dictionarynudgenudge /nʌdʒ/ verb [intransitive, transitive] to increase the value or position of something on a scale by a small amount, or to increase or move up by a small amountnudge something up/to something etcInvestors bought blue chips again, nudging the Dow Jones Industrial Average to another all-time high.nudge upHonda increased its share of the car market even though its sales nudged up only slightly. —nudge noun [countable usually singular]The interest rate cuts will give the economy an upward nudge.→ See Verb tableOrigin nudge (1600-1700) Perhaps from a Scandinavian language 