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Thumb   /θəm/   Listen
noun
Thumb  n.  The short, thick first digit of the human hand, differing from the other fingers in having but two phalanges; the pollex. See Pollex. "Upon his thumb he had of gold a ring."
Thumb band, a twist of anything as thick as the thumb.
Thumb blue, indigo in the form of small balls or lumps, used by washerwomen to blue linen, and the like.
Thumb latch, a door latch having a lever formed to be pressed by the thumb.
Thumb mark.
(a)
The mark left by the impression of a thumb, as on the leaves of a book.
(b)
The dark spot over each foot in finely bred black and tan terriers.
Thumb nut, a nut for a screw, having wings to grasp between the thumb and fingers in turning it; also, a nut with a knurled rim for the same perpose.
Thumb ring, a ring worn on the thumb.
Thumb stall.
(a)
A kind of thimble or ferrule of iron, or leather, for protecting the thumb in making sails, and in other work.
(b)
(Mil.) A buckskin cushion worn on the thumb, and used to close the vent of a cannon while it is sponged, or loaded.
Under one's thumb, completely under one's power or influence; in a condition of subservience. (Colloq.)



verb
Thumb  v. t.  (past & past part. thumbed; pres. part. thumbing)  
1.
To handle awkwardly.
2.
To play with the thumbs, or with the thumbs and fingers; as, to thumb over a tune.
3.
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. "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."



Thumb  v. i.  To play with the thumb or thumbs; to play clumsily; to thrum.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Thumb" Quotes from Famous Books



... joint between his finger and thumb for a moment till it was black at the end; then he turned to the saucer at his side, which Hilda herself had placed there, and chose from it, cat-like, with great deliberation and selective care, a particular needle. Hilda's ...
— Hilda Wade - A Woman With Tenacity Of Purpose • Grant Allen

... It has been shown by Prof. J. W. Judd that this structure may be due to mechanical stresses. In consequence of this composite formation, amethyst is apt to break with a rippled fracture, or to show "thumb markings," and the intersection of two sets of curved ripples may produce on the fractured surface a pattern something like that of "engine turning." Some mineralogists, following Sir D. Brewster, apply the name of amethyst to all quartz ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... long yet before a good many of these ones will be soldiers," he, observed, with a disrespectful wave of his thumb towards the awkward squad still manoeuvering its way about over the barren stretch of the parade ground. "They ride like tailors squatting on their press-boards, and they salute like a parrot scratching his head with his hind paw. A soldier ...
— On the Firing Line • Anna Chapin Ray and Hamilton Brock Fuller

... stiff, well-made, not too thin—beside Jeremias Muntor she might be called stout—complexion, pale yellow; the nose and chin coming together, the mouth fallen in; the eyes grey and small, forehead smooth, and agreeably shaded by silver hair; the hands still handsome, and between the thumb and delicate tip of the forefinger a pinch of snuff, which was commonly held in certain perspective towards the nose, whilst with an elbow resting on the arm of sofa or easy-chair she gave little lectures, or read aloud, for it was one of her weaknesses ...
— The Home • Fredrika Bremer

... though, like the earth-worm, but smooth and glossy, dappled with darker spots, especially on one side, which may be the upper one. Put round its mouth twelve little arms, on each a hand with four ragged fingers, and on the back of the hand a stump of a thumb, and you have Synapta Digitata (Plates IV. and V., from my drawings of the live animal). These hands it puts down to its mouth, generally in alternate pairs, but how it obtains its food by them is yet a mystery, ...
— Glaucus; or The Wonders of the Shore • Charles Kingsley


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