1
as in to brush
to pass lightly across or touch gently especially in passing
accidentally nudged me as they squeezed past
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2
as in to urge
to try to persuade (someone) through earnest appeals to follow a course of action
the car salesman nudged me into taking a test-drive, even though I had said that I was just looking
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Examples of nudge in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Elizabeth Svoboda, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024
The all-items consumer price index nudged up just 0.2% in August, putting the full-year inflation rate at 2.5%.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2024
To prevent another CrowdStrike update fiasco, Microsoft is looking at creating a new platform within the Windows OS specifically designed for antivirus monitoring, nudging security products out of kernel.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 12 Sep. 2024
Instead, a truly great one—written by someone who knows their stuff—will gently nudge you towards small shifts that gradually make a major difference.
—Jenna Ryu, SELF, 19 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for nudge 
Verb
She’s found that another way to nudge people toward empathy—and keep them there—is to embed them in communities where empathy is a baseline expectation.
—Elizabeth Svoboda, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024
The all-items consumer price index nudged up just 0.2% in August, putting the full-year inflation rate at 2.5%.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2024
To prevent another CrowdStrike update fiasco, Microsoft is looking at creating a new platform within the Windows OS specifically designed for antivirus monitoring, nudging security products out of kernel.
—Michael Kan, PCMAG, 12 Sep. 2024
Instead, a truly great one—written by someone who knows their stuff—will gently nudge you towards small shifts that gradually make a major difference.
—Jenna Ryu, SELF, 19 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for nudge
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nudge.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Nudge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nudge. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
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