How to Use gesture in a Sentence

gesture

1 of 2 noun
  • His arm was raised in a gesture of defiance.
  • Specific gestures can indicate particular moods.
  • And he was hurt by the gesture.
    Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 May 2026
  • Even small gestures go a long way.
    Alesandra Dubin, Southern Living, 25 Feb. 2026
  • Gone were the warm gestures and pats.
    Katherine Doyle, NBC news, 14 May 2026
  • That small gesture seemed to open a door.
    Jonathan Taplin, Rolling Stone, 7 Jan. 2026
  • None of these are flashy gestures.
    Mark Murphy, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Swift’s fans were charmed by the gesture.
    Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Gould said he was deeply moved by the gesture.
    Kelly McGreal, FOXNews.com, 1 Feb. 2026
  • But the best gifts aren’t about grand gestures.
    Avery Newmark, AJC.com, 9 Feb. 2026
  • But [gestures around] might be the term of the decade.
    Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Derek's one word — or gesture — was a big clap.
    Brianne Tracy, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2025
  • But what was out there [gestures] was not what was hard.
    Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
  • But what was out there [gestures] was not what was hard.
    Jami Ganz, Mercury News, 9 Jan. 2026
  • That gesture comes in the form of a photo.
    Max Darrow, CBS News, 26 May 2026
  • These gestures do not erase the guilt of work travel.
    Ashlea Halpern, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 June 2026
  • But such gestures count for only so much.
    Álex Maroño Porto, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2026
  • The shrug and hand gesture at the end became his thing.
    Kimberly Wilson, Essence, 29 Jan. 2026
  • The high five is one of sports’ most iconic gestures.
    Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Wu said it could be seen as a mushroom cloud or even a gesture.
    Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 6 May 2026
  • Those gestures may not have been fully enough for me as a child.
    Benny Peterson, Vogue, 4 May 2026
  • Yet such gestures failed to meet the scale of the problem.
    Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 11 May 2026
  • Ramírez made a swing gesture and then nodded and smiled.
    Zack Meisel, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2026
  • This gesture of kindness does not end well.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Adam had those tiny facial gestures that came from some sort of fire.
    Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
  • But the gesture contains its own gloss.
    Emma Madden, Pitchfork, 13 Mar. 2026
  • In a single deft gesture, the sheets drew his body from the light.
    Literary Hub, 16 Jan. 2026
  • Khloé praised her mom for her selfless gesture.
    Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
  • This is one reason [gestures around] first caught on.
    Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 24 Feb. 2026
  • The gesture left her feeling brushed aside.
    Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2025

gesture

2 of 2 verb
  • He gestured to his partner to leave.
  • She gestured towards the fireplace.
  • The room was filled with angry people shouting and gesturing.
  • He gestured at his audience.
  • Cain laughed and gestured to the shelf behind him.
    Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
  • There was at times much gesturing about his hands.
    Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 May 2026
  • Lewis then gestured to the robber, and both of them left the store, the video showed.
    Evan MacDonald, cleveland.com, 15 Aug. 2019
  • Then Bruce looked up and gestured with a drumstick.
    Peter Ames Carlin, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2025
  • The man appears to speak to James and gesture with his right hand.
    Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2024
  • Hansen gestured toward the springs.
    Josh Jackson, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
  • Zhou gestured to an open hallway, then crabbed along in his usual way.
    Andrew Liptak, The Verge, 18 Oct. 2018
  • At one point, the dancers took us by the hand and showed us how to move our hips and gesture with our hands.
    Nadia Owusu, Travel + Leisure, 9 Aug. 2021
  • Jesmyn Ward gestured with her eyes and a tilt of her face, hands on the wheel.
    Imani Perry, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
  • Most of medicine can gesture toward clean endpoints.
    Kyle P. Edmonds, STAT, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Grande asks, gesturing to the loop station.
    Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 7 June 2026
  • The inequalities of the art world are gestured to as fact.
    Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
  • The bear then gestured to the audience, pointing at his nose and back to the stars.
    Ashley Wong, WSJ, 13 Mar. 2023
  • As the moon rose, Mugibelo gestured out to the salt pans behind us.
    AFAR Media, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Snow gestured to the bird keeping watch a few feet away, even as the parking lot emptied.
    Lindsay Crudele, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Lockhart gestured to more than a dozen red brick structures arranged across wide green lawns.
    al, 17 Oct. 2019
  • The book’s opening pages gesture back to the author’s prior work.
    Ned Blackhawk, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2022
  • And Trudeau goes on from there, hands gesturing, mouth grinning.
    Paula Newton, CNN, 5 Dec. 2019
  • Go ahead, Chase gestured at Ochocinco.
    Luca Evans, Denver Post, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Michelle said, gesturing to Bush Hager.
    Rachel McRady, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Is this person gesturing hello or leave me alone?
    Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Wiseman gestured with his hands, making a heart shape and pointing to a bracelet around his wrist.
    Evan Bush, NBC news, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Carrington made a trey in the second half and gestured at the U bench.
    Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 14 Jan. 2026
  • The frightened driver screeched to a stop at a red light, jumped out of the cab, and gestured toward its rear.
    Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 19 June 2019
  • The crowd booed as Wang gestured to her team, who sat right above the baseline where the ball landed.
    Charlotte Harpur, New York Times, 27 May 2026
  • The decor is dark and earthy, with leather chairs, faux fur and antler chandeliers all gesturing at the wolf theme.
    Reia Li, AZCentral.com, 18 Dec. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gesture.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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