headbobbing

English

Etymology

From head +‎ bobbing.

Noun

headbobbing (uncountable)

1. A stereotypic animal behaviour in which the head bobs up and down.
   • 1983, Robert Milton Silverstein, Dietland Müller-Schwarze, Chemical signals in vertebrates, volume 3:

     A distinctive feature of the guinea pig's response to conspecific odors (particularly of the male's response to female urine odors) is a behavior we have called headbobbing.

   • 2006, Monica Lisa Berlanga, Cholinergic Interneurons and Synaptic Reorganization within the Nucleus Accumbens Shell and Core:

     Cocaine induces a wide range of behaviors in rats, such as hyperlocomotion, excessive exploratory behavior, focused sniffing, headbobbing, as well as other repetitive purposeless behaviors.