gesture
A motion of the limbs or body, especially one made to emphasize speech.
Example
“The middle-finger gesture is really a nonverbal swear.”
Other meanings
An act or a remark that serves as a formality or as a sign of attitude.
“We took flowers as a gesture of sympathy.”
A motion made with a pointing device, or on a touchscreen, that is recognised by the system as a command.
“This Web browser can be controlled with mouse gestures.”
Related words
- countergesture
- gesticulate
- gesticulation
- gesticulative
- gestural
- gestureless
- gesturelike
- gesturement
- quiet coyote gesture
- quiet fox gesture
- silent fox gesture
- gesture politics
Example sentences
Word history
From Latin "gerō" (to bear; (reflexive) bear oneself, behave, act).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “gesture” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.