nod

verb

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.’”

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.”

   “Frail snowdrops that together cling / and nod their helmets, smitten by the wing / of many a furious whirl-blast sweeping by.”

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.”

7. (intransitive, transitive)To head; to strike the ball with one's head.

   “Jones nods the ball back to his goalkeeper.”

   “With the hosts not able to find their passes - everything that went forward was too heavy or too short - Terry once again had to come to his side's rescue after Davies had brilliantly nodded into the path of Elmander, who followed up swiftly with a deflected shot.”

8. (figuratively, intransitive)To allude to something.

   “Though the title nods to the Italian neo-realist classic Bicycle Thieves—and Cyril, much like the father and son in that movie, spends much of his time tracking down the oft-stolen possession—The Kid With A Bike isn’t about the bike as something essential to his livelihood, but as his sole connection to the freedom and play of childhood itself.”

9. (intransitive, slang)To fall asleep while under the influence of opiates.

noun

1. An instance of inclining the head up and down, as to indicate agreement, or as a cursory greeting.
2. A reference or allusion to something.

   “Much like Mirror Mirror, Huntsman appears to borrow liberally from other fantasy films. Sometimes the nods are clever—Stewart’s first night in the forest, among hallucinatory fog that gives the trees faces and clutching hands, evokes Disney’s animated Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs from 1937.”

   “Early into Zootopia 2, a character celebrates how easy it was to teach everyone to “set aside their differences and solve bias and prejudice forever”—a winking nod towards the mixed reception of the first film’s themes.”

3. A nomination.

   “For the fifth time in her career she received a Grammy nod, she has yet to win the award.”

   “Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Really putting a damper on the ol' Tony nod.”

4. (figuratively)Approval.

   “The plan is expected to get the nod from councillors at the next meeting.”

   “Has the BRB received a secret nod from the Ministry to continue the LMR electrification from Weaver Junction to Glasgow?”

5. A state of half-consciousness; stupor.

   “Withered addicts drooped into chronic heroin nods.”

6. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of notice Of disagreement; filed by an appellant in response to a denial of veteran's benefits in United States law.
7. (US, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of Night Optical/Observation Device.