1no object Lower and raise one's head slightly and briefly, especially in greeting, assent, or understanding, or to give someone a signal.

她点头表示同意。

1. 1.1with object Signify or express (greeting, assent, or understanding) by nodding.
   点头表示（问候，赞同，理解）
   he nodded his consent

   他点头表示赞同。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Ally nodded her understanding; she knew exactly what it was like to have an agent who didn't listen.
   • Napoleon nodded his understanding, gave me a brief pat, then turned his attention to the stunning woman behind me.
   • Rico continued to give various tips and instructions, Chris nodding his understanding throughout the lecture.
   • Shields nods his agreement, but it is qualified.
   • ‘We never think of that,’ replies George, while Gilbert nods his assent.
   • He laughed at his own description, nodding assent, and laughing also.
   • The teen girl nodded her understanding, and disappeared down the hallway.
   • The others knew what he was going to say, and nodded their understanding.
   • With tingling anticipation the audience nodded its agreement that the card the girl had drawn on had indeed been decimated.
   • They only nodded their agreement, although deep in their hearts they rejected his idea.
   • Cara nodded her understanding, her eyes still on the still body of Cedric.
   • He became quizzical yet some of them nodded their assent or what he took to be assent.
   • Today I nodded my greeting, but he avoided my gaze, and whizzed past with his son.
   • You'll always find a chorus of people to nod agreement to your stupid charge.
   • ‘It's a good time to be a scrum-half,’ Lawson insists and his rival nods his agreement.
   • Harry shot a glance at me quickly, before nodding his assent and followed the uniformed officer out of the room.
   • Not to anyone's amazement, a woman was found in the audience who began nodding vigorous assent to everything Charles said.
   • When I ask her about this, McTeer nods her assent.
   • Stifling another giggle, she only nods her agreement, unable to voice her assent.
   • He glared down at Alex, who was nodding a greeting at the teacher and slipping his cell phone into his pocket.

   Synonyms

   signal, gesture, gesticulate, motion, sign, indicate
2. 1.2nod something throughinformal Approve something by general agreement, without discussion.
   〈非正式〉未经讨论而一致通过
   the DTI nodded through the bid from Airtours

   贸易工业部点头同意了空旅公司的投标。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • So presumably the owners are hoping both councils will be as confused as I am about the boundary and nod it through anyway.
   • I am disappointed that this change was nodded through without any debate, and treated as a budget-saving measure.
   • Even if his political friends were to nod a deal through, there remains Five's major shareholder, the German media group RTL.
   • The decision to axe the brainwave was nodded through by both Conservative and Labour councillors without debate or comment.
   • The job of members of parliament is to nod the decisions through, and party members will have the task of justifying them to the public.
   • But he added that A-Levels were going the way of GCSEs in the sense that universities and companies were increasingly unlikely to look at candidates with less than a C, now that 24 out of 25 entries were nodded through.
   • She can nod the deal through; she can agree to the deal but ask for certain undertakings; or she can refer the matter to the Competition Commission.
   • A number of resolutions were nodded through and a couple knocked back.
   • The expectation is that the board will nod them through.
3. 1.3 Move one's head up and down repeatedly.
   反复点头
   he shut his eyes, nodding to the beat

   他闭着眼睛，跟着节拍点头。

   figurative foxgloves nodding by the path

   〈喻〉在小路边点着头的毛地黄花。

2no object Let one's head fall forward when drowsy or asleep.

安娜对着书本垂头打瞌睡。

1. 2.1 Make a mistake due to a momentary lack of alertness or attention.
   一时疏忽
   scientific reason, like Homer, sometimes nods

   科学推理，就像荷马，有时也会出错。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • He was nodding toward the booth of the Detroit Super Bowl Host Committee, which featured a couch and a fireplace.
   • ‘Oh, and look at that,’ he said, elbowing me and nodding toward a woman wearing tight ski pants.
   • I glanced over my shoulder and he nodded toward the bank and I saw it was moving the wrong way.
   • She caught his gaze and held it evenly, nodding toward the gate.
   • He offered her a reassuring smile before nodding toward her hand.
   • ‘Maybe he knows,’ Michael said, nodding toward a grumpy person standing at the foot of the bottom steps.
   • The salesman at the counter though said not a word merely nodding toward a door behind him.
   • Giles relaxed into a smile, nodding toward the guards.
   • She was there with friends, and she nodded toward a small group of white women standing on the outer edge of the dance floor.
   • ‘Here comes your brother,’ Chris said, changing the subject and nodding toward the door.
   • ‘Him,’ I said, nodding toward our neighbor, who was revving the engine on his boat.
   • Evan shook his head and straightened up, nodding toward the ramp.
   • The bartender nods toward a brass plate on the bar that reads, No One Under 18 is Permitted.
   • Blair looked at Jim, nodding toward his injured arm.
   • ‘They look crazy,’ said Jana, nodding toward the table when she saw me looking at them.
   • I sighed quietly and looked over at Quinn, before slipping my hand from Jordan's and nodding toward the open door.
   • ‘Unfortunately, with no wind, this course is a doddle,’ McHenry says, nodding toward the leaderboard.
   • She nodded toward a corner of the room, where five chairs sat in a semi-circle around the fire.
   • ‘He marked you,’ the Unicorn said, nodding toward the bruises exposed on my arms.
   • Beck just nodded his head knowingly, before nodding toward Jesse, whose blonde bangs covered any expression his eyes were holding as they skimmed across the paper.

   Synonyms

   make a mistake, be mistaken, be in error, be wrong, be incorrect, get something wrong, make an error, make a slip, err, trip up, stumble

   be careless, be inattentive, be negligent

   informal slip up

3Soccer
with object and adverbial of direction Head (the ball) without great force.

1An act of nodding the head.

父亲点了头后，他就离开了房间。

1. 1.1a nod to A gesture of acknowledgement or concession to.
   〈喻〉同意；让步
   the device is a nod to the conventions of slapstick

   那种策略是对闹剧习俗的认可。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Like a flat pack, the Grand Opera House pantomime is assembled in next to no time and somehow just about holds together and does the job without a nod to fashion.
   • There even appears to be a nod to her own back pages in ‘Push’, which confirms Europe as a major musical influence.
   • Creating characters is almost a game in itself, and in a nod to the genome project, their looks and characteristics are passed on to children.
   • The deodorant and all the rest is merely a nod to convention.
   • He says recent judgments in the courts would appear to be a nod to our legislators to go ahead and enact something similar, but this has yet to materialise.
   • This may have been a statement that The Simpsons has survived, but I think instead it is a nod to all those cartoons that did not make it.
   • There is also a nod to the mayoral experiment in big cities: Labour now believes it has worked in London and would like it to be extended to other centres.
   • A surprising twist in the film was the number of perfectly placed celebrity cameos, a nod to actors with failing careers who are hoping to steal a laugh.
   • Because of health and safety regulations, the new owners have had to content themselves with a plastic parrot behind the bar as a nod to the venue's past.
   • However, in a nod to modernity there is also a section in the competition for speciality entries allowing exotic variations involving puréed fruit, honey, caramel or whisky.
   • He became the first dancehall artist to grace the cover of Vibe magazine, the urban music bible, a nod to the rising importance of both the artist and the genre.
   • Built in the late Seventies, when the Troubles were at their most incendiary, it casts more than a nod to the brutalist school of architecture.
   • It would indicate thoughtfulness and a nod to common sense.
   • Virtually every guitar solo featured on their fourth studio album is a nod to the hard rock hair bands of the early '90s.
   • Is the world ready for a comedy action movie that has even the slightest nod to 9/11?
   • In a nod to health, a minor one, they had margarine instead of butter.
   • The oven-fried chicken is a nod to the Shake-'n-Bake craze that started in the late 1960s.
   • Hundreds of dancers took spectators on a glitzy trip through Italian history, with a nod to Botticelli, Fellini and Ferrari.
   • I wouldn't be offended by dubbing, since the words are nothing but a nod to convention.
   • His most recent tattoo, across his lower back reads, with a nod to John Lennon: ‘All You Need Is Love’.