thumb
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /θʌm/
note: Indic
ipa: /t̪am(b)/
rhymes: -ʌm
Forms: form: thumbs
form: thumbing
form: thumbed
form: thumbed
form: thum
form: thume
form: thumbe
Etymology: Derived 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; also
Welsh 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.
Senses: examples: text: to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
text: 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.
ref: 2022 November 15, Patrick Wintour, “Sergei Lavrov, a fixture of Russian diplomacy facing his toughest test in Ukraine”, in The Guardian:
glosses: To touch or cover with the thumb.
examples: text: thumb through
text: I thumbed through the book and decided not to bother reading it all.
text: 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.
ref: 1948 March and April, “Notes and News: Lines in County Donegal”, in Railway Magazine, page 129:
synonyms: peruse
flip through
glosses: To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
raw_tags: with through
examples: text: So I started thumbin' back east, toward my hometown.
text: Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained.
ref: 1969, Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster, Me and Bobby McGee:
text: Thumbed a diesel down, outside a cafe.
ref: 1980, Kye Fleming, Dennis Morgan, Smoky Mountain Rain:
topics: lifestyle
tourism
transport
travel
glosses: To hitchhike.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XIII, 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:
glosses: To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling.
examples: text: Fargo palmed out his own revolver, thumbing back the hammer as the barrel came up.
ref: 2009, Jon Sharp, The Trailsman #337: Silver Showdown:
text: Rainford reached down and found the revolver. Thumbing the cylinder open, he inspected the load.
ref: 2015, Tony Monchinski, Bad Men (I Kill Monsters Book 3):
text: Andy opened the revolver, thumbed in a cartridge.
ref: 2015, Don Fitzsimmons, If You Need a Laugh:
glosses: To manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2011, Hans-Christian Vortisch, GURPS Tactical Shooting, page 14:
glosses: To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.
Synonyms: sense: to turn pages
word: browse
sense: to turn pages
word: leaf
sense: to turn pages
word: page
sense: to turn pages
word: peruse
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from thumb (verb)
word: thumb a lift
sense: Terms derived from thumb (verb)
word: thumb a ride
sense: Terms derived from thumb (verb)
word: thumb down
sense: Terms derived from thumb (verb)
word: thumb one's nose
sense: Terms derived from thumb (verb)
word: thumb through
sense: Terms derived from thumb (verb)
word: well-thumbed
Related terms: sense: firing a single action revolver via hammer flicks while trigger is held down
english: using opposite hand instead of thumb
translation: using opposite hand instead of thumb
word: fanning