thumb
See also: -thumb and þumb
English
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Alternative forms
- thum, thume, thumbe (all obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English thombe, thoume, thoumbe, from Old English þūma, from Proto-West Germanic *þūmō, from Proto-Germanic *þūmô from Proto-Indo-European *tūm- (“to grow”).
See also West Frisian tomme, Dutch duim, Low German Duum, German Daumen, Danish tomme, Swedish tumme; alsoWelsh tyfu (“to grow”), Latin tumēre (“to swell”), Lithuanian tumėti (“to thicken, clot”), Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound”), Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙 (amūt, “strong”), Sanskrit तुम्र (túmra, “strong, thick”). The parasitic ‐b has existed since the late 13th century.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /θʌm/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌm
Noun
thumb (plural thumbs)
- The short thick 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.
- (graphical user interface) The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
- a scroll-bar thumb
- (colloquial, Internet) A thumbnail picture.
- 2001, "Gary", Wanna See Porn? Take a Look At These (Free Expandable Thumbs) - CLICK HERE (on newsgroup alt.sex.services)
Synonyms
- (digit): pollex, digit I, first digit (anatomy); thumby (colloquial)
Hypernyms
- (digit): digit, finger
Hyponyms
- (digit): opposable thumb
Derived terms
Terms derived from thumb (noun)
- all fingers and thumbs
- all thumbs
- brown thumb
- fash one's thumb
- green thumb
- opposable thumb
- rule of thumb
- stick out like a sore thumb
- thumb a lift
- thumb a ride
- thumbboard
- thumbnail
- thumb on the scale
- thumbpad
- thumbprint
- thumb-sketch or thumb sketch
- thumbstick
- thumbtack
- thumb wrestle
- thumbs up
- under one's thumb
- under the thumb
- thumb piano
Translations
digit
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part of a slider
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Verb
thumb (third-person singular simple present thumbs, present participle thumbing, simple past and past participle thumbed)
- (transitive) To touch or cover with the thumb.
- to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
- 2022 November 15, Patrick Wintour, “Sergei Lavrov, a fixture of Russian diplomacy facing his toughest test in Ukraine”, in The Guardian:
- News agencies reported Lavrov had been sent to hospital for a checkup, only for the Russian foreign ministry to rush out a picture of Lavrov in shorts, sporting an Apple watch and Jean-Michel Basquiat-inspired T-shirt, thumbing his notes for his first address at the summit on Tuesday.
- (transitive, with through) To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
- I thumbed through the book and decided not to bother reading it all.
- (travel) To hitchhike
- So I started thumbin' back east, toward my hometown.
- 1969, Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, "Me and Bobby McGee":
- Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained.
- 1980, Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan, "Smoky Mountain Rain":
- Thumbed a diesel down, outside a cafe.
- To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 13, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:
- 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.
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- To manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
- 2009, Jon Sharp, The Trailsman #337: Silver Showdown:
- Fargo palmed out his own revolver, thumbing back the hammer as the barrel came up.
- 2015, Tony Monchinski, Bad Men (I Kill Monsters Book 3):
- Rainford reached down and found the revolver. Thumbing the cylinder open, he inspected the load.
- 2015, Don Fitzsimmons, If You Need a Laugh:
- Andy opened the revolver, thumbed in a cartridge.
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- To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.
- 2011, by Hans-Christian Vortisch, GURPS Tactical Shooting, pg 14
- 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.
- 2011, by Hans-Christian Vortisch, GURPS Tactical Shooting, pg 14
Synonyms
- (to turn pages): browse, leaf, page, peruse
Derived terms
Terms derived from thumb (verb)
- thumb one's nose
- thumb a lift
- thumb a ride
- thumb down
- well-thumbed
Related terms
- (firing a single action revolver via hammer flicks while trigger is held down) fanning (using opposite hand instead of thumb)
Translations
touch with the thumb
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turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily
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References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “thumb”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Albanian
Alternative forms
- thumbi, thump
Etymology
From *thon (“(finger)nail”) (modern thua). More at thua.
Noun
thumb m (indefinite plural thumba)
- stinger (of a bee)
- thorn, prick
- bell clapper, tongue (of bell)
- tack, thumbtack, shoe tack (spike)
- point of arrowhead, spiked tip of a goad or prod
Derived terms
- thumbull
Middle English
Alternative forms
- þumb
Noun
thumb (plural thumbes)
- Alternative form of þombe (“thumb”)