GESTURE

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GESTURE. A bodily movement, especially of the hands and arms, which conveys a meaning, such as the use of two fingers to convey ‘V for victory’ (in one orientation) or in British usage an insult (in a different orientation). Gestures are a normal feature of COMMUNICATION, are relatively few in number, and are used to express a fairly constrained range of meanings. They should be distinguished from the more systematic and comprehensive use of hand movements in deaf SIGN LANGUAGE. See RHETORIC.

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