palm reading
3
4.9
- noun
- /pɑm ˈrɪdɪŋ/
- Have you ever had your palm read?
- tarot and palm reading
- cards and palm readings
Examples
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People often seek palm reading as a fun way to learn more about themselves.
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I'll take you out for a drink, as long as you promise me a good palm reading.
Fiction book (2002) -
I'd like to get a palm reading.
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They stop in front of a storefront—the same old palm reading sign.
Fiction book (2001) -
We studied palm reading, assiduously mapping lifelines on the smooth sides of our palms, tracing tributaries of sickness, catastrophe, or crossroads of love.
Fiction book (2000) -
Have you ever had your palm reading done to discover your future?
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She invited her friends over for a palm reading party to share their fortunes.
Synonyms
8
5.8
A way of finding out what will happen to someone in the future using mysterious methods
7
9.9
The act of trying to find the future using magic or signs
1
6.5
To tell someone about their future, often for money, for example using cards or reading palms
1
9.9
To read the lines on a person's hand to tell their future
1
9.9
A way of telling someone's future by reading the lines on their palm
1
9.9
Reading the lines on a person's palm to predict their future or character
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'palm' names the hand surface and 'reading' denotes an act of interpretation, so 'palm reading' naturally denotes interpreting the palm. This construction (X-reading = interpreting X) is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard noun‑noun/verb-derived pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase palm reading comes from the simple idea of people reading the lines and shapes on the palm like a book to learn about the future. So it means 'telling someone's fortune by looking at their hand'.