thumb
Forms
- Plural
- thumbs
- present (v1)
- thumb
- past (v2)
- thumbed
- past participle (v3)
- thumbed
- present participle
- thumbing
- 3rd person singular
- thumbs
Definitions
1.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.
2.The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
3.A thumbnail picture.(colloquial)
4.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.
1.To 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.
2.To hitchhike.
- Thumbed a diesel down, outside a cafe.
- Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained.
- So I started thumbin' back east, toward my hometown.
3.To touch or cover with the thumb.
4.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.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4032
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
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”).