nudge
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Circa 17th century, perhaps of North Germanic origin, related to Norwegian nugge, nyggje (“to push, rub, shove”), Icelandic nugga (“to rub, massage”), from the root of Proto-Germanic *hnōjaną (“to smooth, join together”), from Proto-Indo-European *kneh₂- (compare Ancient Greek κνάω (knáō, “to scratch, scrape”), source of English acnestis).
Compare also Scots nodge (“to push, poke, nudge”), knidge (“to push, squeeze”), gnidge (“to rub, press, squeeze, bruise”), and knudge (“to squeeze, press down with the knuckles”), Saterland Frisian Nukke, Nuk (“a sudden push”), Middle Low German nucke, nücke, gnücke (“a sudden push, shock, impetus”). Compare also dialectal nuch (“to tremble”), Middle English nuchen (“to tremble”).
Inflected forms:
form: nudges
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: nug
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: nudges
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: nudging
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: nudged
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: nudged
pos: verb
tags: past
form: nug
pos: verb
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A gentle push.
pos: noun
examples: give someone a nudge
gloss: A feature of instant messaging software used to get the attention of another user, as by shaking the conversation window or playing a sound.
pos: noun
tags: Internet
gloss: The rotation by one step of a fruit machine reel of the player's choice.
pos: noun
examples: Since the machine was showing two lemons and a cherry, I decided to try a nudge.
gloss: The use of positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions as ways to influence.
pos: noun
examples: All this experimentation is yielding insights into which nudges give the biggest shove. One question is whether nudges can be designed to harness existing social norms. In Copenhagen Pelle Guldborg Hansen, founder of the Danish Nudging Network, a non-profit organisation, tested two potential “social nudges” in partnership with the local government, both using symbols to try to influence choices.
Manipulating behavior is old hat in the private sector, where advertisers and companies have been nudging consumers for decades. Just think of strategically placed chocolate bars at the checkout counter. But in public policy, nudge proponents study human behavior to try to figure out why people sometimes make choices that they themselves would consider poor. Then they test small changes in how those choices are presented, to see whether people can be steered toward better decisions — like putting apples, not chocolate bars, at eye level in school cafeterias. […] It is tricky to run perfectly controlled experiments in real-life situations, but proving the worth of nudges is a central principle of the program, Mr. Halpern said.
gloss: To push against gently, especially in order to gain attention or give a signal.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.
gloss: To near or come close to something.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: This year's profits are nudging the 10 million mark.
gloss: To move slightly.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: But a serious public health and economic crisis, and the responses to it from commonwealth and state governments, seems to have nudged some “protest” voters back into the major party fold.
Synonyms: bump
disrupt
disturb
jog
nudge
poke
push
shift
tap
upset
Antonyms: pull
tug
Related words: nudge nudge wink wink
Derived words: nudge theory
nudgy
wink wink nudge nudge
nudgeable
nudge ahead
nudge out
nudger
nudgingly
unnudged
Translations: