▪ I. nod, n.1
(nɒd)
[f. the vb.]
1. a. A short, quick inclination of the head used as a sign, esp. to convey salutation or recognition, to express assent or approbation, or to direct attention to something. In phrases which imply approval, as to get or give the nod (chiefly U.S.).
| 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. 40 Notwithstandynge..they received nothing in conclusion but noddes with the head. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Nutus, a signe that one maketh with his eyes or head; a becke; a nodde. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iii. 49 Because I cannot..Ducke with French nods, and Apish curtesie. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 40 A Doctor..commanded me to draw water for his horse, giving me no reward presently but only a nod. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. viii. 276 The Jurie being wise men (whose apprehensions could make up an whole sentence of every nod of the Judge). 1692 Locke Educ. §77 A Look or Nod only ought to correct them, when they do amiss. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 77 ¶5 Those Nods of Approbation which I never bestow unmerited. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia v. i, [The] smirk..was converted into a familiar nod. 1818 Shelley Tasso 14 Those nods and smiles were favours worth the zechin. 1821–30 Ld. Cockburn Mem. v. (1874) 241 The speculations and conjectures, and nods and winks,..were endless. 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. 278 Delivering the last words of each paragraph with two or three energetic nods of his head. 1948 W. O'Sullivan in Thrilling Sports July 55/1 Rebel felt sure of his surmise on the hidden-crew game when his bunch got the nod to start against the highly regarded Tiger crew. 1953 Wall St. Jrnl. 23 Apr. 1/3 Paul L. Troast got the G.O.P. nod, beating his nearest rival, State Sen. Malcolm Forbes, by more than 53,000 votes. 1962 New Yorker 17 Nov. 43/2 Industry has at last given literature the nod. 1967 Boston Globe 20 May 2/2 (heading) Desalting funds get U.S. nod. 1970 New Yorker 28 Nov. 151/1 We will not be surprised if the museum gives this piece the nod. 1973 Bulletin (Sydney) 25 Aug. 30/2 Perhaps he sees himself—if he gets the nod—as a natural successor to Sir Kevin Ellis in the Speaker's chair of the Assembly. 1975 Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer 31 Mar. 2-D/2 The five outfielders certainly will include regulars Charlie Spikes, George Hendrick, and Oscar Gamble, meaning the two other jobs will be fought for among Ken Berry, Leron Lee and Rick Manning, with Berry and Lee probably getting the nod. |
| fig. 1649 Bulwer Pathomyot. i. §6. 37 All the ready variations of his cunning fingers being done by the Nods of the Soule. 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. i. xi. §8 To move itself and by its motions and nods to determinate the course of the Spirits. |
Prov. (See also wink n.1 2.)
| 1794 Godwin Caleb Williams I. viii. 171 A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas ii. ix. ¶5, I shall say no more at present, a nod is as good as a wink. 1834 Marryat P. Simple li, A nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse. 1893 M{supc}Carthy Red Diamonds II. 28 A nod is as good as a wink to such a dark horse as you are. 1935 T. S. Eliot Murder in Cathedral i. 24 My Lord, a nod is as good as a wink. A man will often love what he spurns. 1974 N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 200 All right; a nod's as good as a wink... You've got these people in mind. |
b. A sign of this kind conveying an imperative command, or expressive of absolute power.
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 29 The race of this life was..eche moment at death his nod and beck. 1596 Drayton Legends iii. 471 Whose very Nod acts with a thousand Hands. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. Concl., They stood upon their own bottom, without their main dependance on the royal nod. 1684–5 South Serm. (1692) 395 Masaniello..with a Word, or a Nod, absolutely Commanding the whole City of Naples. 1718 Prior Solomon ii. 944 Nations obey my word, and wait my nod. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxiv. (1787) III. 361 They watched his nod; they trembled at his frown. 1787 Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 332 In Turkey, where the sole nod of the despot is death. 1826 E. Irving Babylon II. 365 The whole western empire was at his nod. 1850 Mazzini Royalty & Repub. 152 You have..multitudes of men dependent on your nod. 1870 Bryant Homer I. i. 28 That thou Mayst be assured, behold, I give the nod. |
† c. One who is nodded at. Obs. rare—1.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cix. xii, Alas! I am their scorn, their nod, When in their presence I me show. |
d. on the nod, on credit.
| 1882– in Farmer Slang. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 11 June 5/3 We went into a..shop and wanted to be served on the nod. 1907 ‘Ian Hay’ Pip ix. 286 He looked all round the room, and I knew he knew everything in it had been got on the nod. 1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 25 July 46/4 Drunks with determined minds to get bacon, bread, cheese, on the nod. 1945 B. Naughton in C. Madge Pilot Papers I. 106 Edith..got them a house,..and Edith filled it with furniture on the ‘nod’. |
e. on the nod, with a merely formal assent; by abstention from voting.
| 1959 Times 14 Mar. 4/2 The Bill..was given a second reading ‘on the nod’ by the House. 1969 Sunday Times 12 Jan. 4 The agenda, usually the cause of great friction, was accepted ‘on the nod’. 1973 C. Mullard Black Britain iii. vii. 85 The late Lord (Learie) Constantine, then a member of the Board, opposed the appointment of John Lyttle on the nod, and urged that the job should be advertised in the press. |
2. a. An involuntary forward movement of the head in one who has fallen asleep or is drowsy; hence, a short sleep, a nap. Also transf., a lapse.
| c 1610 Lives Wom. Saints 111 She permitted her bodie to take a little nodd or sleepe. 1625 Fletcher & Shirley Nt. Walker iv. ii, Common-wealths men Are ever subject to the nods; sit down, Sir, A short nap is not much amiss. a 1704 T. Brown Walk round Lond. Wks. 1709 III. ii. 21 When the Spewing-fit is over, he'll sit down to take a Nod. 1793 Regal Rambles 69 Even Homer had his nods now and then. 1894 Annie Ritchie Chapters fr. Mem. vi. 70 My own head..came down with a sleepy nod. |
b. the land of Nod, sleep. [A pun on the biblical place-name, Gen. iv. 16.]
| 1731–8 Swift Pol. Conversat. 214 I'm going to the Land of Nod. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxx, There's queer things chanced since ye hae been in the land of Nod. 1863 Reade Hard Cash xviii, [It] had my lady into the land of Nod in half a minute. 1900 Chamb. Jrnl. III. 642/2 In the night⁓time, when human beings..are absent in the Land of Nod. |
c. A state of drowsiness brought on by narcotic drugs. Esp. in phr. on the nod.
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §509/22 Play the nod, to be drowsy as a result of over⁓indulgence in narotics. 1946 B. Treadwell Big Bk. of Swing xvi. 125/1 Nod, tired feeling, sleepy, fatigued. 1951 Life 11 June 126/2 Instead of a warming, bright ‘charge’, he merely becomes comatose and lethargic (goes on the nod in junkie parlance). 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) iv. 43 Don't ever invite him to your home... He'll go on the nod in front of your family. He's got no class to him. Ibid. xiv. 147 When he arrived in Mexico, I gave him half a grain of M and he went on the nod. 1962 K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed v. 37 While I was on the nod. 1965 New Statesman 20 Aug. 248/3 In addict's language—‘going on the nod’ (becoming senseless). 1969 H. Waugh Young Prey (1970) xxiii. 180 Once you went into the nod, the surroundings no longer mattered. |
3. A forward or downward movement. rare.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iii. iv. 102 Like a drunken Sayler on a Mast, Readie with euery Nod to tumble downe. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. 257 By those surprizing nods of the pole we might be tossed backward or forward in a moment from January to June. |
▸ orig. U.S. In the entertainment industry: (a nomination for) an award.
| 1944 Washington Post 26 Feb. 9/6 Fontaine is up for the best actress' nod,..for her..characterization in ‘The Constant Nymph’. 1963 Chicago Daily Tribune 16 Jan. ii. 1/6 London Awards... The best actress nod went to Maggie Smith in ‘The Private Ear and the Public Eye’. 1989 Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 26 Feb. 86 If they gave Grammy nods to reggae sound tracks, the year's most adventuresome entry would be the music to ‘The Mighty Quinn’. 2006 Wales on Sunday (Nexis) 29 Oct. 28 He received nods from both BAFTA and the Oscars but only ended up walking home with a Golden Globe award. |
▪ II. † nod, n.2
Obs. rare—1. = noddy n.1 1.
| c 1563 Jack Juggler in Hazl. Dodsley II. 130 For it would grieve my heart, so help me God, To run about the streets like a masterless nod. 1606 Warner Alb. Eng. xiv. To Rdr. 331 [The poets] most-what but for Nods doe cense Saints, senselesse of more Recompence. |
▪ III. nod, n.3
dial. = noddle n.1 1 b.
| 1695 Kennett Par. Antiq. s.v. Coppire, The knape or nape.., in Kent the Nod of the neck. 1838 Holloway Prov. Dict. s.v. Niddick, The node of the neck is the nape of the neck. Hants. 1875 Parish Sussex Gloss. s.v., It catched me right across the nod of my neck. 1884 J. C. Egerton Sussex Folk & Ways 112 A bit of hair from the ‘nod’. |
▪ IV. nod
obs. form of need n.
▪ V. nod, v.
(nɒd)
Also 4–7 nodde.
[Of obscure origin: no equivalent form with the same sense is found in any of the cognate languages. Connexion with MHG. notten (G. dial. notteln) to move about, shake, is doubtful.]
I. 1. intr. To make a quick inclination of the head, esp. in salutation, assent, or command.
| c 1386 Chaucer Manciple's T. Prol. 47 With this speche the Cook wax wrooth.., And on the Manciple he gan nodde faste For lakke of speche. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 357/2 Noddynge wythe the heed, conquiniscio. 1483 Cath. Angl. 255/2 To Nodde; conqui[n]escere. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxiv. 39 The Dyvill luche and on him qwoth nod, Renunce thy God and cum to me. 1530 Palsgr. 644/1, I nodde with the heed, je fais signe de la teste. Whan I nodde upon the, than go. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. i. 177 Nod to him, Elues, and doe him Curtesies. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 138 Young Ganimeds..went up and downe..to powre out wine to such as noded for it. 1635–56 Cowley Davideis i. Note §29 The Poets are so civil to Jupiter, as to say no less when he either Spoke, or so much as Nodded. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 12 ¶2 Upon which my Land-lady nods, as much as to say she takes my Meaning, and immediately obeys my Signals. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth vii, Some of the citizens..began to nod and look exceedingly wise upon the advocate of acquiescence. 1842 Tennyson Godiva 30 And nodding, as in scorn, He parted. 1877 Mrs. Forrester Mignon I. 65 Sir Tristram nods and smiles at her and goes off to the garden. |
| transf. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. clxx. 1057 Like the Asse which can well ynough nodde with his Eares. |
2. a. To let the head fall forward with a quick, short, involuntary motion when drowsy or asleep.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 91, I nother nod for sleepe.., nor blisse for spirites. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 271 If thou do'st nod, thou break'st thy Instrument. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 247 We not used to this watching, were so sleepy..as we could not abstaine from nodding. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. ii. 7 As one that noddeth in a chayre. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 112 ¶3 If he sees any Body else nodding, [he] either wakes them himself, or sends his Servant to them. 1783 S. Chapman in Med. Comm. I. 303 Oppressed with inclination to sleep, he frequently nodded. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge I, She would be seen..to nod a little way forward, and stop with a jerk. 1870–74 J. Thomson City Dreadf. Nt. ix. ii, A man sits nodding on the shaft. |
| fig. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Divinitie i, For fear the starres should sleep and nod, And trip at night. 1648 Crashaw Steps to Temple Wks. (1904) 88 Our Harpes..Nodding on the willowes slept. |
| transf. 1879 Thomson & Tait Nat. Phil. I. i. §106 It is the case of a common spinning-top..; not sleeping upright, nor nodding, but sweeping its axis round [etc.]. |
† b. To wink at, overlook, a thing. Obs. rare—1.
| 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. ii, It well becomes that Judge to nod at crimes. |
c. To be momentarily inattentive or inaccurate; to make a slip or mistake. In echoes of Horace Ars Poet. 359 (dormitat Homerus).
| 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin i. v. 20 We see a Jesuite may sometimes nod as well as Homer. 1709 Pope Ess. Crit. 180 Those oft are stratagems which errors seem, Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream. 1796 Burke Let. to Noble Lord 35 Homer nods; and the duke of Bedford may dream. a 1876 G. Dawson Shaks., etc. (1888) 50 If Homer sometimes nods, Johnson snores. 1887 Huxley in 19th Cent. Feb. 196 Scientific reason, like Homer, some⁓times nods. |
d. (See quot.)
| 1968–70 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV. 86 Nod, to drift in and out of consciousness while under the influence of a drug. |
3. a. To swing or sway from the perpendicular, as if about to fall.
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 21 Theire ships too larboord doo nod, seas monsterus haunt them. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows ii. §25. 169 Tottering to and fro, nodding and sliding much like carved pictures without life. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 801 If ancient Fabricks nod, and threat to fall. 1718 Prior Solomon ii. 732 Porches and schools..Uncover'd, and with scaffolds cumber'd stood, Or nodded, threatening ruin. 1732 Pope Essay on Man i. 255 Heav'n's whole foundations to their centre nod. 1816 H. G. Knight East. Sketches (ed. 3) Pref. xii, A fragment of a palace which is nodding to its fall. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps v. §10. 145 The arches nodding westward and sinking into the ground. |
b. In fig. context.
| 1752 Young Brothers i. i, His empire shakes, And all her lofty glories nod to ruin. 1770 Ann. Reg. i. 7 This vast, ill-founded, and unwieldy empire seems indeed nodding to its fall. 1821 Shelley Hellas 870 A later Empire nods in its decay. |
4. To bend or incline downward or forward with a swaying movement.
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xiv. 6 A forked Mountaine..With Trees vpon't, that nodde vnto the world. 1744 Akenside Pleas. Imag. ii. 203 The shade More horrid nodded o'er me. 1784 Cowper Task v. 26 The bents And coarser grass,..fledged with icy feathers, nod superb. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. i. xxv, Green hazels o'er his basnet nod. 1841 Lowell Rosaline, With long black garments trailing slow, And plumes anodding to and fro. |
| transf. 1899 Crockett Kit Kennedy 28 The little green bank..nodding with fern and queen-of-the-meadow. |
† 5. To incline or tend to something. Obs. rare—1.
| 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. ii. i, My brother, sir, for want of education, sir, somewhat nodding to the boor, the clown. |
II. 6. trans. To incline (the head). Also transf.
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 223 Some noddes their hedde at euery sentence. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. (1586) i. 34 They nodde theyr heads, and abase their eyes. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. ccxxii, He..nods at every house his threatening fire. 1695 Congreve Taking of Namur v, Craggy Cliffs..Nod impending Terrours o'er the Plain. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge x, John contented himself with nodding his head in the affirmative. 1898 Rider Haggard Dr. Therne 20, I nodded my head. |
7. To signify by, to say with, a nod.
| 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 8. 50 Ay, ay nodded the Porter; but, Sir, whom must I say I came from? 1775 Sheridan Rivals Epil., She..Curtsies a pension here—there nods a place. 1819 Scott Leg. Montrose xvi, The general laid his hand upon his nose, and nodded intelligence. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest ix, The keeper nodded adieu to Edward. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola iii. xxi, He nodded assent, and Romola set out. 1883 Harper's Mag. Apr. 741/2 The officer nodded an affirmative. |
8. To invite, send, or bring, by a nod.
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. vi. 66 Cleopatra Hath nodded him to her. 1647 Trapp Comm. 1 Pet. v. 6 If God can..nod us to destruction. 1684 Brook Prec. Remedies 266 God can speak or nod you to hell in a moment. 1742 J. Yarrow Love at First Sight 74 He cries play; the Harper uncases, the Drawer is nodded out. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 82 The beckoning lover nods the maid away. 1889 F. Barrett Strange Mask II. xv. 96, I nodded him out of the room. |
9. To cause to bend or sway.
| 1818 Keats Endym. i. 261 By every wind that nods the mountain pine. |
Hence ˈnodded ppl. a.
| 1887 Meredith Ballads & P. 131 And thou perform The nodded part of pantaloon. |