thumb
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: computing
engineering
graphical-user-interface
lifestyle
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
tourism
transport
travel
Etymology: 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”), Russian дюйм (djujm, “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.
Inflected forms:
form: thumbs
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: thum
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: thume
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: thumbe
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: thumbs
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: thumbing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: thumbed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: thumbed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: thum
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: thume
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: thumbe
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
gloss: The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
pos: noun
examples: a scroll-bar thumb
gloss: A thumbnail picture.
pos: noun
tags: Internet
colloquial
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
gloss: To touch or cover with the thumb.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
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.
gloss: To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
gloss: To gesture with the thumb, for example when flagging a ride.
pos: verb
examples: Oh, look! There’s a car coming! Thumb-no, wave. They probably don’t understand thumbing.
gloss: To hitchhike.
pos: verb
examples: 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.
gloss: To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling.
pos: verb
examples: 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.
gloss: To manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
pos: verb
examples: 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.
gloss: To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.
pos: verb
examples: 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.
Synonyms: pollex
digit I
first digit
thumby
Derived words: all fingers and thumbs
all thumbs
ball of the thumb
bethumb
bite one's thumb
black thumb
brown thumb
butcher's thumb
Chinese thumb cuff
climb up one's thumb
e-thumb
fash one's thumb
finger and thumb
gamekeeper's thumb
get the thumb
green thumb
hop-o'-my-thumb
lady's thumb
miller's thumb
Mother Thumb and her four daughters
Nintendo thumb
opposable thumb
pseudothumb
rule of thumb
skier's thumb
sore thumb
stand out like a sore thumb
stick out like a sore thumb
suck out of one's thumb
tearthumb
thimble
thumbable
thumb a lift
thumb a ride
thumb-a-war
thumb blue
thumbboard
thumb drive
thumber
thumb fight
thumbhole
thumb index
thumb-indexed
thumbkin
thumb knot
thumbless
thumblike
thumbling
thumbmark
thumbmarked
Thumb Master
thumbnail
thumbnut
thumb on the scale
thumb on the scales
thumb-over
thumbpad
thumb piano
thumbpick
thumbpiece
thumb position
thumbpot
thumbprint
thumbprinted
thumb-ring
thumb ring
thumbsbreadth
thumbscrew
thumbshot
thumb-sized
thumb sketch
thumb-sketch
thumb splitter
thumbstall
thumbstick
thumb stone
thumbstroke
thumbsucker
thumbsucking
thumbs up
thumbtack
thumb tip
thumb-toe
thumb war
thumbwheel
thumb wrestle
Tom Thumb
Tom Thumb golf
tweak of the thumb
under one's thumb
under the thumb
Translations:
lang: Finnish
word: koskea peukalolla
lang: Finnish
word: peukaloida
lang: Russian
word: мусо́лить
roman: musólitʹ