Word Finder - gesture

definition

A motion of the limbs or body, especially one made to emphasize speech.

example

The middle-finger gesture is really a nonverbal swear.

definition

An act or a remark made as a formality or as a sign of attitude.

example

We took flowers as a gesture of sympathy.

definition

The manner of carrying the body; position of the body or limbs; posture.

definition

To make a gesture or gestures.

example

My dad said to never gesture with my hands when I talk.

definition

To express something by a gesture or gestures.

example

He gestured his disgust.

definition

To accompany or illustrate with gesture or action.

That was a nice gesture on someone's part.

Dropping off home-cooked meals was a very nice gesture.

Maria Theresa had undoubtedly an instinctive histrionic sense of the perspective of the theatre, and could adopt the appropriate attitude and gesture, passionate, dignified or pathetic, required to impress those she wished to influence.

The visitor made a gesture with her hand.

Jackson held Sarah's hand as a gesture of comfort.

Inviting Alex to visit this farm sounded more like a payback than a gesture of appreciation.

After the illness, when they were dependent on signs, Helen's tendency to gesture developed.

In answer to questions with which he was greeted, the courier made a despairing gesture with his hand and passed through the room.

But those!... and he made a gesture of contempt.

Alpatych turned his face to Prince Andrew, looked at him, and suddenly with a solemn gesture raised his arm.

The Frenchman expanded his chest and made a majestic gesture with his arm.

He held up his hand in a stopping gesture.

At a single gesture from him everyone went out on tiptoe, leaving the great man to himself and his emotion.

In every word and gesture he saw allusions to his happiness.

On seeing the count the major- domo made a significant and stern gesture to them both to go away.

It is done in all the brothels, and with these words Marya Dmitrievna, turning up her wide sleeves with her usual threatening gesture and glancing sternly round, moved across the room.

That's a very nice gesture, Felipa.

The attendant made a hopeless gesture.

Some people even extend this gesture to sending notes of thanks to those who have merely offered words of sympathy and good wishes.

This gesture is a way to draw you closer to him and gently enter your personal space.

It's not always necessary to say "Namaste" when you make the gesture, as the purpose is implied.

Your mother, sister, daughter, or best friend is sure to appreciate the loving gesture behind a one-of-kind holiday gift.

She waved her hand with a dismissive gesture.

They leered, and one made an obscene gesture.

Three stone diamond anniversary rings are a perfect gesture to celebrate a couple's ongoing relationship while honoring their shared past and loving present.

I spread my arms in a shrug gesture while he sorted his notes some more.

The captain, with a gesture and a speaking countenance, called the adventurers into the cabin.

Finally there's repetition - a word, gesture or memory used as a leitmotif having the effect of making time cyclical.

Hence the physical movement time lies somewhere between 2 and 3 times that for a purely directional gesture.

When governments stopped burning heretics and witches, effigy burning remained as a threatening gesture of the mob.

The Council hazarded its own dignity in risking a friendly gesture and suffered a rebuff.

One such gesture was personally administering communion to Pinochet in acknowledgment of his complete religious rectitude.

For some reason, the gesture seemed reminiscent of a soldier donning armor.

They watched him with a kind of suppressed excitement and became risible with his every word and gesture.

A hand at the back of the head, such a similar gesture, can evoke the deliberate sensuality of lifting the hair.

Equally, the device of raining down trash seems too solitary a gesture to convey an overall sense of chaos.

Here as usual, Fish's rather stagey relish for the melodramatic theoretical gesture leads him astray.

In true Banachek style, each move, gesture and psychological subtlety is covered in detail.

The gesture did not work and China became a nation run by warlords in their own region.

The first player's bowl has come to rest just in front of the jack; the second has delivered his bowl and is following after it with one of those eccentric contortions still not unusual on modern greens, the first player meanwhile making a repressive gesture with his hand, as if to urge the bowl to stop short of his own; the third player is depicted as in the act of delivering his bowl.

Voltaire makes an interesting observation on the technical difference between an English and a French sermon in the 18th century; the former, he says, is a solid and somewhat dry dissertation which the preacher reads to the congregation without a gesture and without any inflection of his voice; the latter is a long declamation, scrupulously divided into three points, and recited by heart with enthusiasm.

Such gesture, directed towards an inoffensive person, became an insult, and the word sycophant might imply one who insulted another by bringing a frivolous or malicious accusation against him.

His commanding stature, the symmetry of his form, the dark and melancholy beauty of his countenance, rather rendered piquant than impaired by an obliquity of vision, produced an imposing impression even before his deep and powerful voice had given utterance to its melodious thunders; and harsh and superficial half-truths enunciated with surpassing ease and grace of gesture, and not only with an air of absolute conviction but with the authority of a prophetic messenger, in tones whose magical fascination was inspired by an earnestness beyond all imitation of art, acquired a plausibility and importance which, at least while the orator spoke, made his audience entirely forgetful of their preconceived objections against them.

He said no more, but expressed his resignation to cruel fate by a gesture.

Seeing them pass, Prince Vasili drew back with obvious impatience, while the princess jumped up and with a gesture of desperation slammed the door with all her might.

On hearing this the regimental commander hung his head, silently shrugged his shoulders, and spread out his arms with a choleric gesture.

With his left hand he drew Bagration toward him, and with his right, on which he wore a ring, he made the sign of the cross over him with a gesture evidently habitual, offering his puffy cheek, but Bagration kissed him on the neck instead.

Each made the other a warning gesture and stood still in the dim light beneath the curtain as if not wishing to leave that seclusion where they three were shut off from all the world.

Balashev knew how to reply to each of Napoleon's remarks, and would have done so; he continually made the gesture of a man wishing to say something, but Napoleon always interrupted him.

Having done that, the officer, lifting his elbow with a smart gesture, stroked his mustache and lightly touched his hat.