▪ I. nid-nod, v.
[A reduplicative formation on nod v.: cf. niddle-noddle v.]
1. intr. To nod repeatedly.
| c 1787 Burns We're a' noddin, We're a' noddin, nid nid noddin,..at our house at hame. c 1817 Hogg Tales & Sk. I. 289 She sat nid-nodding. 1892 Daily News 18 June 3/3 A green straw hat with large roses nid-nodding from the crown. 1903 R. N. Carey Passage Perilous xxiii, The two heads nid-nodded more closely. |
2. trans. (with head as object).
| 1840 Hood Kilmansegg, Fancy Ball xxiv, Lady K. nid-nodded her head. |
Hence nid-nodding vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. lxxix, That odd, little, nid-nodding face. 1833 Hood China Mender 11 Great nid-noddin' mandarins, with palsies in the head. 1896 Blackw. Mag. Oct. 490/2 The nid-nodding of the red rose. |
▪ II. nid-nod, a. poet.
[f. nid-nod v.]
That nid-nods.
| 1921 W. de la Mare Veil 88 Of whispering boughs, and feathery, nid-nod grass. 1937 ― This Year, Next Year, Poppy, cornflower, nid-nod wheat, The sheaves are ripe for rick. 1941 ― Bells & Grass 50 The nid-nod daffodil. |