thimble

Syllables: thimb·leUK/ˈθɪmb(ə)l/

thimble noun: a pitted, now usually metal, cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, which is used in sewing to push the needle through material.

Noun

thimble (plural thimbles)

A pitted, now usually metal, cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, which is used in sewing to push the needle through material.
- She had worn a hole through her silver thimble, and wanted Owen to repair it.1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Artist of the Beautiful”, in Mosses from an Old Manse
As much as fills a thimble (sense 1); a thimbleful.
(also, attributive) A thimble or similar object used in thimblerig (“a game of skill which requires the bettor to guess under which of three thimbles or small cups a pea-sized object has been placed after the person operating the game rapidly rearranges them”).
(also, attributive) A socket in machinery shaped like a thimble.
A metal ring which a cable or rope intended for attaching to other things is looped around as a protection against chafing.
- To relieve the stern in a measure from the great weight of the [diving-]bell, a short, strong mast was stepped in the usual place, and steeving forward; from its head to the head of the davit was a span, which set up with two thimbles [footnote: A sort of iron ring.] and a lanyard, and the whole...1836, Thomas Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations for the Recovery of the Public Stores and Treasure Sunk in H.M.S. Thetis, at Cape Frio, on the Coast of Brazil, on the 5th December, 1830. […]...
- The rope part is fitted with a thimble in one end, which is connected to the chain by means of a shackle; the other extremity is spliced around a heart, and goes with a laniard, as in the case of bobstays. The splice of the thimble and the heart should be served.1849, John M‘Leod Murphy; W[illiam] N[icholson] Jeffers, Jun., “Part I. Spars and Rigging.”, in Nautical Routine and Stowage; with Short Rules in Navigation, New York, N.Y.: Henry Spear, […], →OCLC...
A ring- or tube-shaped component such as a ferrule.
(UK, obsolete, thieves' cant) A watch (timepiece).
- One of them had the address, whilst his Majesty was shaking hands with one of his 'Pall-Mall' acquaintances, to slip his hand under his upper tog [coat] and extract his thimble [watch] […]1821 September 8, Manchester Guardian (quoted in 2010, David J. Cox, A Certain Share of Low Cunning, page 121)

Verb

thimble (third-person singular simple present thimbles, present participle thimbling, simple past and past participle thimbled)

(intransitive) To use a thimble (noun sense 1).
(broadly, intransitive) To sew.

thimble meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

thimble in Hindi

cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, used in sewing to push the needle through material: अंगुश्ताना aṅguśtānā, नोक nok, टोप ṭop
socket in machinery shaped like a thimble: शाम śām

thimble in Tamil

cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, used in sewing to push the needle through material: விரல் கவசம் viral kavacam

thimble in Urdu

cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, used in sewing to push the needle through material: انگشتانہ anguśtānā, ٹوپ ṭop
socket in machinery shaped like a thimble: شام śām

thimble in Bengali

cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, used in sewing to push the needle through material: অঙ্গুষ্ঠানা oṅguśṭhana

More languagesFewer languages

thimble in Telugu: అంగులి త్రానము aṅguli trānamu, అంగుస్తాను aṅgustānu, తుడుపు tuḍupu
thimble in Malayalam: വിരൽത്രാണം
thimble in Kannada: ಬೆರಳಕಾಪು
thimble in Assamese: আঙঠা aṅotha
thimble in Tagalog: dedal, didal
thimble in Arabic: كُشْتُبَان kuštubān, كُسْتِبَان kustibān
thimble in Malay: bidal
thimble in Indonesian: bidal
thimble in Persian: انگشتانه angoštâne
thimble in Thai: ปลอกนิ้ว bplɔ̀ɔk-níu, สนับ sà-nàp
thimble in Vietnamese: đê
thimble in Myanmar: အပ်ထောက် aphtauk

Forms of thimble

Noun
plural	thimbles
Verb
third-person singular present	thimbles
present participle	thimbling
past participle	thimbled
past	thimbled

Plural of thimble: thimbles

Origin of thimble

The noun is derived from Middle English thymbyll, thimel (“thimble”) [and other forms], from Old English þȳmel (“thimble, thumbstall; fingerstall”), then either: * from Old English þūma (“thumb”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”)) + -el (suffix forming agent nouns and the names of instruments); or * from Proto-Germanic *þūmilaz (“thumb-covering, thumb-sheath”), from *þūmô (“thumb”) (ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root mentioned above) + *-ilaz (suffix forming agent nouns). The English word is analysable as thumb + -le (suffix forming agent nouns), and is cognate with Dutch duimeling (“thumbstall”), German Däumling (“thumbstall”), German Low German Dümelke (“thumbstall”), Saterland Frisian Düümelke (“thumbstall”), Scots thummle, thumble (“thimble”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Words formed from thimble

Phrases with thimble

Words that rhyme with thimble

Questions about thimble

What does thimble mean?: Thimble means a pitted, now usually metal, cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, which is used in sewing to push the needle through material.
What is thimble in Hindi?: Thimble in Hindi is अंगुश्ताना (aṅguśtānā), नोक (nok), टोप (ṭop). See Thimble meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is thimble?: Thimble can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce thimble?: Thimble is pronounced /ˈθɪmb(ə)l/ (UK).
What is the plural of thimble?: The plural of thimble is thimbles.

Words near thimble in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: thimble (page history and authors); thimble (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); thimble (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-thimble.ogg.

Cite this entry: “thimble.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/thimble. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.