thumb

Examples

• All

• The problem with this was a loss of thumb length and a subsequent loss of pinch strength.

  Academic text (2011)

• You can still use your thumbs to send out a tweet.

  Megyn Kelly

• It's about like your thumb held at arm's length.

• If we come in here and we use just our thumb strength, see that?

• You put it onto the skin between your thumb and your index finger.

• The finger and thumb holes allow a firm grip and a precise position.

  Academic text (2011)

• Left and right clicks are made by rocking the thumb up or down.

• During exams, I would fold my hands in front of me, thumbs parallel, ostensibly deep in thought.

  Fiction book (1990)

• She raised her thumb to signal that everything was okay.

• He injured his thumb while working on the construction site.

Synonyms

P

pollex

vsthumb

• Specialized

9.9

A short, thick finger at the inner edge of the hand, like the thumb in people

is the common human finger word rather than the anatomical term

Idioms

T

to thumb one's nose at

• Informal

8 9.2

To show open disrespect by refusing to follow rules or customs

T

thumb on the scale

• Informal

1 8.5

To make a process unfair to give someone an advantage

Compounds

R

rule of thumb

• Informal

31 3.8

A simple practical way to do or decide things from experience that is not exact

G

green thumb

• Informal

8 3.6

A natural ability to make plants grow well

B

brown thumb

• Informal

1 7.9

A person who cannot grow plants successfully

B

butcher's thumb

• Jargon

9.9

A way to check how soft meat is by pressing it with the thumb

B

butcher's thumb technique

• Jargon

9.4

A skill butchers use with their thumb to make precise cuts

E

e-thumb

• Texting

7.7

An online click that shows you like or support a post

M

miller's-thumb

9.9

A small freshwater fish with a broad flat head that lives among stones in fast streams

M

Mother Thumb

• Baby Talk

8.6

A small nursery rhyme character a child shows on their thumb to teach finger names

M

Mother Thumb and her four daughters

• Baby Talk

9.9

A simple game for children using the thumb and four fingers to help them move well

H

hop-o'-my-thumb

• Literature

9.9

A very small clever boy in a fairy tale who solves problems

T

thumb index

• Specialized

7.2

Small cuts in a book edge that help you open to chapters

T

Tom Thumb

9.3

A very small person used as a playful name

Surface Forms

Etymology