nodding

Verb

nod (third-person singular simple present nods, present participle nodding, simple past and past participle nodded)

1. (ambitransitive) To incline the head up and down, as to indicate agreement.
   • ‘She has big breasts’, Chuck said. ‘Who? Patty? Oh yes.’ Hentman nodded. ‘Well, it’s that operation they give in Hollywood and New York. It’s more the rage now than the dilation, and she’s had that done, too.’1964, Philip K. Dick, “TWELVE”, in Clans of the Alphane Moon, United States: Ace Books, →OCLC; republished London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996, →ISBN, page 173
2. (ambitransitive) To briefly incline the head downwards as a cursory greeting.
3. (ambitransitive) To sway, move up and down.
   • By every wind that nods the mountain pine.1818, John Keats, “Book I”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 1
4. (intransitive) To gradually fall asleep.
5. (transitive) To signify by a nod.
   • They nodded their assent.
6. (intransitive) To make a mistake by being temporarily inattentive or tired
   • Even Homer nods.

See all 14 meanings of nod