pollex

Noun

pollex (plural pollices or (rare) pollexes)

1. The thumb; the first, or preaxial, digit of the forelimb, corresponding to the hallux in the hind limb. In birds, the pollex is the joint which bears the alula or bastard wing.
   • The Simiidae have a man-like appearance. They possess neither tails nor bestial cheek pouches. Their arms are longer than their legs, and they have opposable pollexes and a broad sternum.1949 April, Harry Holbert Turney-High, “Distinguishing Characteristics of the Primates”, in General Anthropology, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, part 1 (Basic Concepts and Data), section...
   • We came to know the curious roadside species, Hitchhiking Man, Homo pollex of science, with all its many sub-species and forms: […]1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published August 1958, →OCLC, part 2, page 161