thumb
nounEtymology
Derived from Middle English thombe, thoume, thoumbe (“thumb”), from Old English þūma (“thumb”), from Proto-West Germanic *þūmō (“thumb”), from Proto-Germanic *þūmô (“thumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *tūm- (“to grow”). Cognate with West Frisian tomme (“thumb”), Dutch duim (“thumb”), Low German Duum (“thumb”), German Daumen (“thumb”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk tomme (“inch”), Norn tum (“thumb”), Swedish tumme (“thumb”), tum (“inch”), Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound”). Also compare Welsh tyfu (“to grow”), Latin tumēre (“to swell”), Lithuanian tumėti (“to thicken, clot”), Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙 (amūt, “strong”), Sanskrit तुम्र (túmra, “strong, thick”). The parasitic ‐b has existed since the late 13th century. Doublet of tomb.
Definitions
The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can…
The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
- a scroll-bar thumb
A thumbnail picture.
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A top hatch plate for covering an excavator bucket, used to keep material in the digger…
A top hatch plate for covering an excavator bucket, used to keep material in the digger bucket after scooping it up, and not letting it spill out.
To touch or cover with the thumb.
- to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
- thumb through
- I thumbed through the book and decided not to bother reading it all.
- It is also disconcerting when you suddenly realise that the driver isn't steering, but may be thumbing over his Customs papers with his feet up.
To gesture with the thumb, for example when flagging a ride.
- Oh, look! There’s a car coming! Thumb-no, wave. They probably don’t understand thumbing.
To hitchhike.
- So I started thumbin' back east, toward my hometown.
- Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained.
- Thumbed a diesel down, outside a cafe.
To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers
To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling.
- He gravely informed the enemy that all his cards had been thumbed to pieces, and begged them to let him have a few more packs.
To manipulate (an object) with the thumb
To manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
- Fargo palmed out his own revolver, thumbing back the hammer as the barrel came up.
- Rainford reached down and found the revolver. Thumbing the cylinder open, he inspected the load.
- Andy opened the revolver, thumbed in a cartridge.
To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the…
To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.
- To thumb a single-action revolver, hold down the trigger and use the thumb on the same hand to fire the gun by manipulating the hammer.
The eastern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, United States (the "Mitten").
- Turnip Rock is located in a portion of eastern Michigan dubbed the Thumb, where 140 miles of coastline and waterfront towns offer a variety of outdoor activities, including biking, walking and kayaking.
The neighborhood
- synonympollex
- synonymdigit I
- synonymfirst digit
- synonymthumby
- neighbordigit
- neighborfinger
- neighboropposable thumb
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at thumb. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at thumb. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
7 hops · closes at thumb
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA