What does THUMB mean?

Definitions for THUMB
θʌmthumb

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word THUMB.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. thumb, pollexnoun

    the thick short innermost digit of the forelimb

  2. thumbnoun

    the part of a glove that provides a covering for the thumb

  3. ovolo, thumb, quarter roundverb

    a convex molding having a cross section in the form of a quarter of a circle or of an ellipse

  4. hitchhike, hitch, thumbverb

    travel by getting free rides from motorists

  5. flick, flip, thumb, riffle, leaf, riffverb

    look through a book or other written material

    "He thumbed through the report"; "She leafed through the volume"

  6. finger, thumbverb

    feel or handle with the fingers

    "finger the binding of the book"

Wiktionary

  1. thumbnoun

    The short thick 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. thumbnoun

    The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.

  3. thumbnoun

    A thumbnail picture.

  4. thumbverb

    To touch with the thumb.

  5. thumbverb

    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.

  6. thumbverb

    To hitchhike

    So I started thumbin' back east, toward my hometown.

  7. Etymology: Middle English thoume, thoumbe, from þuma, from þūmô (cf. West Frisian tomme, Dutch duim, German Daumen), from tūm- (cf. Albanian thumb,thimth, thembër, Romanian tumburush, Welsh tyfu, Latin tumere, Lithuanian tumėti, Ancient Greek 'burial mound', Avestan 'strong', Sanskrit 'strong, thick').

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. THUMBnoun

    The short strong finger answering to the other four.

    Etymology: ðuma , Saxon.

    Here I have a pilot’s thumb,
    Wreck’d as homeward he did come. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    When he is dead you will wear him in thumb rings, as the Turks did Scanderbeg. Dryden.

    Every man in Turkey is of some trade: Sultan Achmet was a maker of ivory rings, which the Turks wear upon their thumbs when they shoot their arrows. William Broome.

    It is divided into four fingers bending forwards, and one opposite bending backwards called the thumb, to join with them severally or united, whereby it is fitted to lay hold of objects. John Ray, on the Creation.

  2. To Thumbverb

    To handle aukwardly.

Wikipedia

  1. Thumb

    The thumb is the first digit (finger) of the hand. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb is pollex (compare hallux for big toe), and the corresponding adjective for thumb is pollical.

ChatGPT

  1. thumb

    A thumb is the short, thick first digit of the human hand, set lower and apart from the other four fingers and opposable to them for gripping and manipulating objects. It has two phalanges and is also present in various forms in most vertebrates and some invertebrates.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Thumbnoun

    the short, thick first digit of the human hand, differing from the other fingers in having but two phalanges; the pollex. See Pollex

  2. Thumbverb

    to handle awkwardly

  3. Thumbverb

    to play with the thumbs, or with the thumbs and fingers; as, to thumb over a tune

  4. Thumbverb

    to soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling; also, to cover with the thumb; as, to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon

  5. Thumbverb

    to play with the thumb or thumbs; to play clumsily; to thrum

Wikidata

  1. Thumb

    The thumb is the first digit of the hand. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position, the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb is pollex, and the corresponding adjective for thumb is pollical.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Thumb

    thum, n. the short, thick digit, consisting of two phalanges, on the radial side of the human hand: the corresponding member in other animals.—v.t. to handle awkwardly: to play or soil with the thumb or fingers.—v.i. to finger.—adj. Thumbed, having thumbs: marked by the thumb, worn.—ns. Thumb′kin, Thumb′screw, an old instrument of torture for compressing the thumb by means of a screw.—adj. Thumb′less.—ns. Thumb′-mark, a mark left by the impression of the thumb on the pages of a book, &c.; Thumb′piece, a piece serving as a support for the thumb: a knob or projection by means of which a spring is worked by pressure of the thumb; Thumb′pot, a very small pot used by florists for starting slips or seedlings; Thumb′-ring (Shak.), a ring worn on the thumb: a ring for the thumb fastened to the guard of a dagger or sword; Thumb′-stall, a covering or sheath for the thumb.—By rule of thumb, in a rough-and-ready practical manner, found by experience to be convenient; Under one's thumb, under one's influence. [With intrusive b from A.S. þuma; cog. with Ger. daumen.]

The New Hacker's Dictionary

  1. thumb

    The slider on a window-system scrollbar. So called because moving it allows you to browse through the contents of a text window in a way analogous to thumbing through a book.

Editors Contribution

  1. thumb

    A facet of the human hand.

    We all have a thumb on each hand.


    Submitted by MaryC on March 8, 2020  

Suggested Resources

  1. thumb

    The thumb symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the thumb symbol and its characteristic.

  2. thumb

    Song lyrics by thumb -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by thumb on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'THUMB' in Nouns Frequency: #2412

How to pronounce THUMB?

How to say THUMB in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of THUMB in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of THUMB in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of THUMB in a Sentence

  1. Gordon Chang:

    What they have done is really Gods work, over a long period of time, this group has been able to do some very important things that governments have not wanted to do and have not been able to do. And also we know that the group took thumb drives out of the North Korean embassy in Madrid, they gave them to the FBI and this is important because North Korean embassies are really centers of crime. North Korea raises money through criminal activities, which are centered on the embassies. I am sure that we found a lot of information about how North Korea launders money through Europe, because of the information this group gave to federal authorities.

  2. Jay Rosen:

    I don’t think journalists should put their thumb on the scale for the Democrats because of how bad Donald Trump is. It’s not something that I believe. I’ve never written that. It’s not my point of view.

  3. Dr Arnold:

    In many situations heuristics work well by getting us to the correct answer quickly and efficiently, however, because they are rules of thumb (e.g., not like an algorithm/formula that produces a correct answer with certainty) they do not guarantee we will be right because they are open to biases.

  4. Alyssa Pike:

    The general rule of thumb for emergencies is to store at least one gallon of water per person or pet per day and to have a three-day supply handy. However, if you typically drink tap water or have some sort of filter, I wouldn't worry about buying copious amounts of water.

  5. Ameline Bardo:

    If you were to shake a Neanderthal hand you would notice this difference, there would be confusion over where to place the thumb, and for a thumb fight I think you would win in terms of speed and movement !

Popularity rank by frequency of use

THUMB#1#7799#10000

Translations for THUMB

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"THUMB." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/THUMB>.

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