nod (n.)

nod (v.)

With ravish'd ears

The monarch hears;

Assumes the god,

Affects to nod,

And seems to shake the spheres.

John Dryden (1631-1701): Alexander's Feast. Line 37.

Even a nod from a person who is esteemed is of more force than a thousand arguments or studied sentences from others.

Plutarch (46(?)-120(?) a d): Life of Phocion.

Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast,

Ready with every nod to tumble down.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): King Richard III. Act iii. Sc. 4.

Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod,—

The stamp of fate, and sanction of the god.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Iliad of Homer. Book i. Line 684.