How to use thumb in a sentence
40 example sentences · noun, verb
Thumb means the shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers. Example: “I thumbed through the book and decided not to bother reading it all.”
Examples of thumb by meaning
nounThe part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
- a scroll-bar thumb
verbTo touch or cover with the thumb.
- to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
verbTo turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
- I thumbed through the book and decided not to bother reading it all.
- It is also disconcerting when you suddenly realise that the driver isn't steering, but may be thumbing over his Customs papers with his feet up.1948 March and April, “Notes and News: Lines in County Donegal”, in Railway Magazine, page 129
verbTo gesture with the thumb, for example when flagging a ride.
- They probably don’t understand thumbing.1977, Diana Wynne Jones, Charmed Life
verbTo hitchhike.
- Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained.1969, Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster, Me and Bobby McGee
- Thumbed a diesel down, outside a cafe.1980, Kye Fleming, Dennis Morgan, Smoky Mountain Rain
verbTo manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
- Fargo palmed out his own revolver, thumbing back the hammer as the barrel came up.2009, Jon Sharp, The Trailsman #337: Silver Showdown
- Thumbing the cylinder open, he inspected the load.2015, Tony Monchinski, Bad Men (I Kill Monsters Book 3)
- Andy opened the revolver, thumbed in a cartridge.2015, Don Fitzsimmons, If You Need a Laugh
verbTo fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.
- To thumb a single-action revolver, hold down the trigger and use the thumb on the same hand to fire the gun by manipulating the hammer.2011, Hans-Christian Vortisch, GURPS Tactical Shooting, page 14
More sentences with thumb
- Humans have two hands and ten fingers. Each hand has one thumb and four fingers.From the entry finger
- Any rule of thumb, however true (it is), is useless unless you understand its underlying logic.From the entry however
- I have a terrible brown thumb. I could probably kill silk flowers.From the entry brown thumb
- Wow, did you plant this entire garden on your own? You really must have a green thumb.From the entry green thumb
- I should ask the green thumb next door what she recommends for my droopy daffodils.From the entry green thumb
- My brother thumbed his nose in reply to my snide remarks.From the entry thumb one's nose
- Richard Feynman delighted in thumbing his nose at the dissidents and workers.From the entry thumb one's nose
- We got the thumbs up to go ahead with the project.From the entry thumbs up
- She has the entire crew under her thumb. They would do anything for her.From the entry under one's thumb
- The patient was unable to adduct his thumb after the injury.From the entry adduct
- The stupid rusty wire cut my thumb when I grabbed it.From the entry stupid
- She lifted her thumb off the carb and breathed in the thick smoke.From the entry carb
- Don't wear a business suit to that party; you'll stick out like a sore thumb.From the entry stick out like a sore thumb
- He tried to tie his shoelace but was all fingers and thumbs due to his nervousness.From the entry all fingers and thumbs
- A shaftment is the width of the palm and the outstretched thumb.From the entry shaftment
- I bashed my thumb with a hammer, and it hurts like billy-oh.From the entry billy-oh
- Rogers got the thumb for shoving the linesman after being called offside.From the entry get the thumb
- 'Go climb up your thumb,' Galbraith told her, over his shoulder.From the entry climb up one's thumb
- One rule of thumb is that the width of an adult thumb can approximate a length of one inch.From the entry inch
- I am all thumbs when it comes to shuffling cards.From the entry all thumbs
- He smiled and gave a big thumbs up.From the entry thumbs up
- By thumbing to the dog-eared pages, she quickly found the items in the catalog she wanted to order.From the entry dog-eared
- He twiddled his thumbs for almost a week while he waited for somebody to set up his computer.From the entry twiddle one's thumbs
- The thumb is opposable to the forefinger.From the entry opposable
- Eina! I hit my thumb with the hammer!From the entry eina
- The usual rule of thumb says that to calculate when an investment will double, divide 70 by the interest rate.From the entry rule of thumb
- For this strike, if your thumb is tucked correctly, you should hit the pressure point where their arm meets their shoulder.From the entry pressure point
- He shook his head and gave a thumbs down.From the entry thumbs down
- We requested permission but got a thumbs down.From the entry thumbs down
Meaning of thumb
- noun The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
- noun The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
- noun A thumbnail picture.
Questions about thumb in a sentence
- How do you use thumb in a sentence?
- Thumb is used as a noun and verb. For example: “I thumbed through the book and decided not to bother reading it all.”
- What is a short sentence with thumb?
- “a scroll-bar thumb”
- What does thumb mean?
- Thumb means the shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: thumb (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use thumb in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/thumb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.