Nudged

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of making a gentle push to motivate or redirect someone or something towards a desired outcome
2. A soft jab used to capture attention or suggest a change in position or decision
3. A light push intended to encourage or prompt a person or object to move closer to a specific direction or choice

Etymology: "Nudged" is simply the past tense and past participle of "nudge", so the story belongs to the verb itself. The verb is thought to have appeared around the 17th century, and its likely origin is North Germanic, with close relatives in Norwegian "nugge" and "nyggje" and Icelandic "nugga," all meaning to push, rub or shove. Its deeper ancestry is more striking. The root reaches back to a Proto-Germanic word meaning "to smooth" or "to join together," and beyond that to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to scratch" or "to scrape." Ancient Greek kept that sense in "knáō," which lies behind the English anatomical term "acnestis," so a word now meaning a light, polite poke once carried a sense of rubbing and scraping. Scots and Low German forms show the same idea in a more forceful form. Scots "knidge" meant to squeeze or press, and Middle Low German "nucke" meant a sudden push or shock, suggesting the older core of the word was physical pressure rather than gentle touch.

Synonyms: pushed, shoved, elbowed, prodded, jostled