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Noun: nutation  nyoo'tey-shun
  1. Involuntary nodding of the head
    "The patient's nutation was a symptom of his neurological condition"
     
  2. (botany) spiral or circular movement of growing plant parts due to uneven growth rates
    "The seedling stem showed nutation as it grew";
    - circumnutation
     
  3. (physics/astronomy) oscillation or wobble in a rotating body's axis of rotation
    "The Moon's gravitational pull causes nutation of Earth's axis"

Derived forms: nutations

Type of: nod

Encyclopedia: Nutation