green fingers
1
6.5
- noun
- UK
:
dedos verdes
- With her green fingers, Sarah transformed the empty backyard into a beautiful vegetable garden.
Examples
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Lita has green fingers.
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Some have green fingers for gardening, so they have black fingers for death.
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Haven't you got green fingers, eh?
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You have green fingers.
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My grandmother has green fingers, and her garden is always full of blooming flowers.
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People say that Tom has green fingers, as he can turn any plant into a thriving one.
Synonyms
8
3.6
A natural ability to make plants grow well
Antonyms
How Skilled
- UK
1
6.5
150
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
green + fingers
The adjective 'green' evokes plants/nature and 'fingers' (hands) suggests manual skill, so a learner who knows the words can plausibly infer this refers to skill with plants or gardening. However, the phrase is metaphorical and idiomatic (British variant of 'green thumb'), so the exact conventional meaning ('ability to make plants grow') is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Green fingers may come from the image of a gardener whose fingers get stained green from working with plants and leaves. So, if someone has green fingers, it means they have the natural skill 'to make plants grow well and keep them healthy'.