Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To make gestures especially while speaking, as for emphasis.
- intransitive verb To say or express by gestures.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make gestures; express thoughts or desires, or emphasize or illustrate speech, by motions of the body or any part of it, especially the hands and arms.
- To express or represent by gestures; imitate; enact.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb rare To represent by gesture; to act.
- intransitive verb To make gestures or motions, as in speaking; to use postures.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive To make
gestures ormotions , as in speaking; to usepostures . - verb transitive To say or express through gestures.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb show, express or direct through movement
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Opening his hands to gesticulate, he breaks into a smile, explaining, Look.
An Australian in Burgundy Will Lyons 2011
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Continuing to gesticulate with hispalm, Mundie moved fromthe 3D street scene into anart gallery; he nextpulled an art object off a pedestal and yanked it off the screen, making it appear tohover in the room of reporters wearing 3D eyeglasses ..
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I love it when people gesticulate with their hands because in psychological terms, it is a sign of an active mind and warmth and vibrancy.
Cheeseburger Gothic » Here’s what I did at six o’clock this morning. 2009
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They look so good as they gesticulate passionately in the city's overflowing cafés or file into its steakhouses, entire family in tow, for dinner at 10 p.m.
Buenos Aires 2011
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Apple is designing a television that you can shout and gesticulate at – and it will understand you.
Next up for Apple, it's iTV – the television that will respond when you shout at it 2011
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This, said Kierkegaard, is the situation of Christians: The more they gesticulate with their creed, the more laughable they seem to their skeptical neighbors, until the world becomes engulfed in the flames of war and mutual hatred -- a hell on earth as prelude to the hell after death.
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This, said Kierkegaard, is the situation of Christians: The more they gesticulate with their creed, the more laughable they seem to their skeptical neighbors, until the world becomes engulfed in the flames of war and mutual hatred -- a hell on earth as prelude to the hell after death.
Atheism 2009
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Sometimes they totter and gesticulate joltingly at ground level, like dolls brought to life.
Creative Cirko De Mente evokes . . . well, it's hard to say Celia Wren 2010
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This, said Kierkegaard, is the situation of Christians: The more they gesticulate with their creed, the more laughable they seem to their skeptical neighbors, until the world becomes engulfed in the flames of war and mutual hatred -- a hell on earth as prelude to the hell after death.
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A: This woman I live with tells me that when I'm writing dialogue I gesticulate a lot, like I'm acting it out.
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word gesticulate
"Well, that's only four and there are four of us." said Athos, "That's equal numbers! Look, there's Grimaud gesticulating!"
-The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
August 1, 2009