Thumb
[θʌm]
Definition
(noun.) the part of a glove that provides a covering for the thumb.
(noun.) the thick short innermost digit of the forelimb.
Typist: Lucinda--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The short, thick first digit of the human hand, differing from the other fingers in having but two phalanges; the pollex. See Pollex.
(v. t.) To handle awkwardly.
(v. t.) To play with the thumbs, or with the thumbs and fingers; as, to thumb over a tune.
(v. t.) To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling; also, to cover with the thumb; as, to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon.
(v. i.) To play with the thumb or thumbs; to play clumsily; to thrum.
Edited by Harold
Definition
n. the short thick digit consisting of two phalanges on the radial side of the human hand: the corresponding member in other animals.—v.t. to handle awkwardly: to play or soil with the thumb or fingers.—v.i. to finger.—adj. Thumbed having thumbs: marked by the thumb worn.—ns. Thumb′kin Thumb′screw an old instrument of torture for compressing the thumb by means of a screw.—adj. Thumb′less.—ns. Thumb′-mark a mark left by the impression of the thumb on the pages of a book &c.; Thumb′piece a piece serving as a support for the thumb: a knob or projection by means of which a spring is worked by pressure of the thumb; Thumb′pot a very small pot used by florists for starting slips or seedlings; Thumb′-ring (Shak.) a ring worn on the thumb: a ring for the thumb fastened to the guard of a dagger or sword; Thumb′-stall a covering or sheath for the thumb.—By rule of thumb in a rough-and-ready practical manner found by experience to be convenient; Under one's thumb under one's influence.
Checked by Jennie
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of seeing a thumb, foretells that you will be the favorite of artful persons and uncertain fortune. If you are suffering from a sore thumb, you will lose in business, and your companions will prove disagreeable. To dream that you have no thumb, implies destitution and loneliness. If it seems unnaturally small, you will enjoy pleasure for a time. If abnormally large, your success will be rapid and brilliant. A soiled thumb indicates gratification of loose desires. If the thumb has a very long nail, you are liable to fall into evil through seeking strange pleasures.
Typist: Sadie
Examples
- This was found between the finger and thumb of the dead man. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- You go away like this, he pointed to the thumb, and come back like this, he touched the little finger. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Allow me to offer you these violets, presenting a small bouquet between his delicate finger and thumb. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- And there, on the margin of the page, were the partially blurred imprints of four wee fingers and the outer half of the thumb. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- So far as ability of control, of management, was concerned, it amounted to rule-of-thumb procedure, to routine. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- It is unquestionably the mark of his thumb. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Mr. Chadband, leaning forward over the table, pierces what he has got to follow directly into Mr. Snagsby with the thumb-nail already mentioned. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- He suggested it, by creasing his face with his two thumbs, from the corners of his mouth to his ears. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- There was nobody at all disposed to contest the point, as it happened; and so, on he went, with his thumbs in his waistcoat pockets, like a lamb. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- I think I shall trade, also, said he, putting his thumbs in his waist-coat pockets, to the West Indies, for sugar, tobacco, and rum. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- They suffocated some in mud, and suspended others by the feet, or the head, or the thumbs, kindling fires below them. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Because man had ten fingers and thumbs, he learned to count in tens. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- No, no, I thank you, answered Smith, putting on a pair of his thickest beaver gloves as though to defend his thumbs. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- He ran his finger along the scar; put his thumbs together over the kneecap and rocked the knee gently with his fingers. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Tarzan rose, and, going to one of the cupboards, returned with a well-thumbed geography. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- It was a history of the lives and trials of great criminals; and the pages were soiled and thumbed with use. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- This old man wears a hat, a thumbed and napless and yet an obdurate hat, which has never adapted itself to the shape of his poor head. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
Checker: McDonald