None of my coworkers acknowledge me

[Maybo]

1. “Men’s room,” I say as I stand, throwing my napkin over my plate which holds an untouched house salad and a once-bitten burger. None of my coworkers acknowledge me, all of them lost in chatter.

2. “So, uh… how have you been?” she asks with a playful shrug, acknowledging what we both know, that the question is one of rote politeness and not genuine curiosity.

Source: At Home With the Horrors: 14 Tales by Sammy Scott

What does "acknowledge" mean?

 

[Skrej]

What does a dictionary suggest? Have you consulted one?

 

[Maybo]

What does a dictionary suggest? Have you consulted one?

Yes. It means to accept, admit, or recognize something, or the truth or existence of something.

Does 1 mean “admit” the speaker’s existence?

For 2, does “acknowledge” mean “her shrug represents what we both know, that the question is one of rote politeness and not genuine curiosity”?

 

[Tarheel]

1. In the first one, they didn't pay him/her any attention.

2. Yes.

 

[Skrej]

For #1, see definition 3b .For 2, see definition 4.

 

[Tarheel]

The word "admit" doesn't work for the first one. In that one everybody is so busy talking that they didn't notice the individual.