spidery finger

6.8

A long thin delicate finger that looks like a spider's leg

noun

: dedo arañal

The artist's spidery finger traced graceful lines across the paper.

Examples

Her spidery finger reached out to adjust the delicate chain around her neck.
The artist's spidery fingers danced across the canvas as she created her intricate masterpiece.
He offered a handshake with his spidery fingers, cool and gentle to the touch.
She pointed with her spidery finger.
His spidery fingers danced over the piano keys.
She gently touched the page with her spidery fingers, tracing the delicate lines of the drawing.
His spidery fingers made it easy for him to play the delicate notes on the piano.

Synonyms

finger

vsspidery finger

∞ 1.0

One of the long thin parts at the end of a hand

is thinner and more delicate, resembling long spider legs

How Thin

bony

30 2.5

spidery finger

6.8

slender

57 1.4

average

∞ 1.0

thick

88 1.0

Surface Forms

spidery finger singular

spidery fingers plural

Morphology

spidery + finger

The meaning is directly compositional: 'spidery' (resembling a spider or its web, i.e. thin/delicate) modifies 'finger', so a learner who knows both words can infer a thin, delicate finger. This adjective+noun pattern is a regular and cross-linguistically common descriptive construction, making the phrase immediately understandable to B1 learners.

Etymology

Spidery finger may come from the image of a hand where each finger looks like a spider's long, thin leg. So the phrase describes a 'thin' or 'delicate' finger and can also suggest a 'light' or 'gentle' touch.