Word.ws English Dictionary

get the nod

get the nod verb: be selected; be approved.

Verb

get the nod (third-person singular simple present gets the nod, present participle getting the nod, simple past got the nod, past participle (UK) got the nod or (US) gotten the nod)

  1. (idiomatic) be selected; be approved
    • Burnley's Nick Pope got the nod in goal but he barely touched the ball in the entire game. This was a cap and clean sheet for this talented keeper but nothing else.2021 March 25, Phil McNulty, “England 5-0 San Marino”, in BBC Sport
  2. (idiomatic, literal) be signaled; get the message or signal

Forms of get the nod

third-person singular presentgets the nod
present participlegetting the nod
pastgot the nod
past participle UKgot the nod
past participle USgotten the nod

Questions about get the nod

What does get the nod mean?
Get the nod means be selected; be approved.
What part of speech is get the nod?
Get the nod is a verb.
What is the past tense of get the nod?
The past tense of get the nod is got the nod.

Words near get the nod in the dictionary

  1. get the job done
  2. get the last laugh
  3. get the lead out
  4. get the meaning
  5. get the memo
  6. get the nod
  7. get the noggin joggin'
  8. get the picture
  9. get the point
  10. get the push
  11. get the runaround

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: get the nod (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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