Word.ws English Dictionary

giving the finger

giving the finger is the present participle and gerund of give the finger.

Meaning of give the finger

Verb

give the finger (third-person singular simple present gives the finger, present participle giving the finger, simple past gave the finger, past participle given the finger)

  1. (transitive, usually) To make an obscene gesture (towards someone) by closing the fist and extending the middle finger upwards.
    • Zelda gave Travis the finger after he cut her off in traffic.
  2. (intransitive) To make any sort of gesture extending one of the fingers above the others.

Questions about giving the finger

What is giving the finger the present participle and gerund of?
Giving the finger is the present participle and gerund of give the finger.

Words near giving the finger in the dictionary

  1. giving the axe
  2. giving the bird
  3. giving the devil his due
  4. giving the dirts
  5. giving the elbow
  6. giving the finger
  7. giving the floor
  8. giving the game away
  9. giving the lie
  10. giving the lie to
  11. giving the royal treatment

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: giving the finger (page history and authors); give the finger (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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