thumb
/ˈθʌm/
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
thumb (plural thumbs)
- 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.
- The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
- a scroll-bar thumb
- A thumbnail picture.
- A top hatch plate for covering an excavator bucket, used to keep material in the digger bucket after scooping it up, and not letting it spill out.
Verb
thumb (third-person singular simple present thumbs, present participle thumbing, simple past and past participle thumbed)
- To touch or cover with the thumb.
- to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
- News agencies reported Lavrov had been sent to hospital for a checkup, only for the Russian foreign ministry to rush out a picture of Lavrov in shorts, sporting an Apple watch and Jean-Michel Basquiat-inspired T-shirt, thumbing his notes for his first address at the summit on Tuesday.2022 November 15, Patrick Wintour, “Sergei Lavrov, a fixture of Russian diplomacy facing his toughest test in Ukraine”, in The Guardian
- To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
- thumb through
- I thumbed through the book and decided not to bother reading it all.
- Synonyms:
- peruse, flip through, browse, leaf, page
- To gesture with the thumb, for example when flagging a ride.
- Oh, look! There’s a car coming! Thumb-no, wave. They probably don’t understand thumbing.1977, Diana Wynne Jones, Charmed Life
- To hitchhike.
- So I started thumbin' back east, toward my hometown.
- Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained.1969, Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster, Me and Bobby McGee
- To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling.
- He gravely informed the enemy that all his cards had been thumbed to pieces, and begged them to let him have a few more packs.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XIII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
- To 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
- Rainford reached down and found the revolver. Thumbing the cylinder open, he inspected the load.2015, Tony Monchinski, Bad Men (I Kill Monsters Book 3)
- To 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
Proper noun capitalized: Thumb
the Thumb
- The eastern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, United States (the "Mitten").
- Turnip Rock is located in a portion of eastern Michigan dubbed the Thumb, where 140 miles of coastline and waterfront towns offer a variety of outdoor activities, including biking, walking and kayaking.2018 July 17, Autumn Spanne, “Check out these crazy rock formations across the United States”, in CNN
thumb meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
thumb in Hindi
- digit
- अंगूठा aṅgūṭhā
thumb in Tamil
- கை கட்டை விரல், பெருவிரல்
thumb in Marathi
- digit
- अंगठा aṅgṭhā
thumb in Urdu
- thumb
- انگوٹھا aṅgūṭhā
More languagesFewer languages
- thumb in Bengali
- বুড়া আঙ্গুল buṛa aṅgul, অঙ্গুষ্ঠ oṅguśṭho
- thumb in Telugu
- బొటనవేలు boṭanavēlu
- thumb in Malayalam
- തള്ളവിരൽ taḷḷaviral, പെരുവിരൽ peruviral, അംഗുലം aṅgulaṁ
- thumb in Kannada
- ಹೆಬ್ಬೆಟ್ಟು, ಹೆಬ್ಬೆರಳು, ಪೆರ್ವೆರಲ್
- thumb in Punjabi
- ਅੰਗੂਠਾ aṅgūṭhā
- thumb in Gujarati
- અંગૂઠો aṅgūṭho
- thumb in Sanskrit
- अङ्गुष्ठ aṅguṣṭha
- thumb in Tagalog
- hinlalaki
- thumb in Arabic
- إِبْهَام ʔibhām
- thumb in Malay
- ibu jari, jempol, empu jari, biang jari
- thumb in Indonesian
- ibu jari, jempol, empu jari, biang jari
- thumb in Persian
- ابهام ebhâm, شست šast
- thumb in Thai
- นิ้วโป้ง níu-bpôong, หัวแม่มือ hǔua-mɛ̂ɛ-mʉʉ, นิ้วหัวแม่มือ níu-hǔua-mɛ̂ɛ-mʉʉ
- thumb in Vietnamese
- ngón tay cái
- thumb in Myanmar
- လက်မ lakma., ဒေါက်တို dauktui
- Dhivehi
- ބޮޑުވައި އިގިލި boḍuvai igili
Examples of thumb in a sentence
- 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:
- Andy opened the revolver, thumbed in a cartridge.2015, Don Fitzsimmons, If You Need a Laugh:
Synonyms of thumb
Forms of thumb
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | thumbs |
| alternative form (obsolete) | thum |
| alternative form (obsolete) | thume |
| alternative form (obsolete) | thumbe |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | thumbs |
| present participle | thumbing |
| past participle | thumbed |
| past | thumbed |
Origin of thumb
Derived from Middle English thombe, thoume, thoumbe (“thumb”), from Old English þūma (“thumb”), from Proto-West Germanic *þūmō (“thumb”), from Proto-Germanic *þūmô (“thumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *tūm- (“to grow”). Cognate with West Frisian tomme (“thumb”), Dutch duim (“thumb”), Low German Duum (“thumb”), German Daumen (“thumb”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk tomme (“inch”), Norn tum (“thumb”), Swedish tumme (“thumb”), tum (“inch”), Russian дюйм (djujm, “inch”), Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound”). Also compare Welsh tyfu (“to grow”), Latin tumēre (“to swell”), Lithuanian tumėti (“to thicken, clot”), Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙 (amūt, “strong”), Sanskrit तुम्र (túmra, “strong, thick”). The parasitic ‐b has existed since the late 13th century. Doublet of tomb.
From its thumb-like shape.
Words formed from thumb
- thumb a lift
- thumb a ride
- thumb down
- thumb one's nose
- thumb through
- well-thumbed
- all fingers and thumbs
- all thumbs
- ball of the thumb
- bethumb
- bite one's thumb
- black thumb
- brown thumb
- butcher's thumb
- Chinese thumb cuff
- climb up one's thumb
- e-thumb
- fash one's thumb
- finger and thumb
- gamekeeper's thumb
- get the thumb
- green thumb
- hop-o'-my-thumb
- lady's thumb
- miller's thumb
- Mother Thumb and her four daughters
- Nintendo thumb
- opposable thumb
- pseudothumb
- rule of thumb
- skier's thumb
- sore thumb
- stand out like a sore thumb
- stick out like a sore thumb
- suck out of one's thumb
- tearthumb
- thimble
- thumbable
- thumb-a-war
- thumb blue
- thumbboard
- thumb drive
- thumber
- thumb fight
- thumbhole
- thumb index
- thumb-indexed
- thumbkin
- thumb knot
- thumbless
- thumblike
- thumbling
- thumbmark
- thumbmarked
- Thumb Master
- thumbnail
- thumbnut
- thumb on the scale
- thumb on the scales
- thumb-over
Phrases with thumb
- thumb up
- thumb tip
- thumb war
- Tom Thumb
- thumb ring
- thumb tips
- thumb wars
- thumb knots
- thumb piano
- thumb rings
- thumb screw
- thumb stone
43 more phrasesFewer phrases
- thumb buster
- thumb drives
- thumb fights
- thumb pianos
- thumb screws
- thumb sketch
- got the thumb
- thumb indexes
- thumb wrestle
- gets the thumb
- rules of thumb
- thumb position
- thumb sketches
- thumb splitter
- thumb wrestles
- Tom Thumb golf
- bit one's thumb
- thumb positions
- thumb splitters
- thumb wrestlers
- gotten the thumb
- bites one's thumb
- getting the thumb
- under one's thumb
- balls of the thumb
- biting one's thumb
- bitten one's thumb
- fashed one's thumb
- fashes one's thumb
- tweak of the thumb
- Chinese thumb cuffs
- fashing one's thumb
- sucks out of one's thumb
- sucked out of one's thumb
- with a thumb up one's bum
- sucking out of one's thumb
- stood out like a sore thumb
- stuck out like a sore thumb
- stands out like a sore thumb
- sticks out like a sore thumb
- with one's thumb up one's ass
- standing out like a sore thumb
- sticking out like a sore thumb
Words that rhyme with thumb
Questions about 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.
- What is thumb in Hindi?
- Thumb in Hindi is अंगूठा (aṅgūṭhā). See Thumb meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use thumb in a sentence?
- 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.
- What part of speech is thumb?
- Thumb can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce thumb?
- Thumb is pronounced /ˈθʌm/.
- What is the plural of thumb?
- The plural of thumb is thumbs.
Words near thumb in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: thumb (page history and authors); Thumb (page history and authors); thumb (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); انگوٹھا (Urdu) (page history and authors); അംഗുലം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); thumb (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-thumb.ogg.
Cite this entry: “thumb.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/thumb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.