brief, little, quick, slight, small
curt, perfunctory, terse
He dismissed them with a curt nod.

approving, satisfied
She inspected my work and gave a satisfied nod.

reassuring
knowing
passing (figurative)
The house is white, in a passing nod to Greek tradition.
He gave a passing nod (= a brief acknowledgement) to the show that had launched his career.

give (sb)
My teacher gave me a nod of reassurance and I began.

get, receive
He's ready to play and just waiting to get the nod from (= be approved by) the coach.

exchange
wait for

at a nod, with a nod
nod from
At a nod from Lawton, he gently turned the handle.

nod in the direction of, nod of
a nod of approval

nod to, nod towards/toward
‘I couldn't have done this alone,’ he said with a nod towards/toward his partner.

a nod of sb's/the head
She answered with a slight nod of the head.

just, merely, only, simply
Ashamed, I could only nod.

emphatically, furiously, vigorously
‘That's exactly it,’ she said, nodding vigorously.

gently
She nodded gently to herself.

almost imperceptibly, slightly
slowly
quickly
briefly, briskly, curtly, stiffly
He nodded curtly and walked away.

dumbly, mutely, silently, wordlessly
She could not speak but just nodded mutely.

absently, absent-mindedly, vaguely
He nodded absently, his mind obviously on other things.

politely, respectfully
eagerly, happily
knowingly, sympathetically, understandingly
appreciatively, approvingly, encouragingly, enthusiastically, gratefully
hesitantly, reluctantly
meekly, weakly
grimly
glumly, miserably, sadly
gravely, sagely, seriously, solemnly, thoughtfully
She nodded sagely as she listened.

at
They nodded at us, so we nodded back.

in
She nodded in agreement.

to
She nodded to Duncan as she left.

towards/toward
‘Let's go!’ he said, nodding towards/toward the door.

with
He nodded with satisfaction.

Nod is used with these nouns as the subject:
head

Nod is used with these nouns as the object:
acknowledgement, agreement, approval, assent, consent, greeting, head, thanks