Wiktionary

thumb

See also: -thumb and þumb

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English thombe, thoume, thoumbe, from Old English þūma, from Proto-West Germanic *þūmō, from Proto-Germanic *þūmô from Proto-Indo-European *tūm- (“to grow”).

See also West Frisian tomme, Dutch duim, Low German Duum, German Daumen, Danish tomme, Swedish tumme; also Welsh tyfu (“to grow”), Latin tumēre (“to swell”), Lithuanian tumėti (“to thicken, clot”), Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound”), Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙 (amūt, “strong”), Sanskrit तुम्र (túmra, “strong, thick”). The parasitic ‐b has existed since the late 13th century.[1]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /θʌm/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌm

Noun

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thumb (plural thumbs)

  2. 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.
  3. (graphical user interface) The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
    a scroll-bar thumb
  4. (colloquial, Internet) A thumbnail picture.
    • 2001, Gary, “Wanna See Porn? Take a Look At These (Free Expandable Thumbs) - CLICK HERE”, in alt.sex.services (Usenet):

Synonyms

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Hypernyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Terms derived from thumb (noun)

Translations

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Verb

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thumb (third-person singular simple present thumbs, present participle thumbing, simple past and past participle thumbed)

  1. (transitive) To touch or cover with the thumb.
    to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
    • 2022 November 15, Patrick Wintour, “Sergei Lavrov, a fixture of Russian diplomacy facing his toughest test in Ukraine”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      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.
  2. (transitive, with through) To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
    Synonyms: peruse (in one of its senses), flip through
    thumb through
    I thumbed through the book and decided not to bother reading it all.
    • 1948 March and April, “Notes and News: Lines in County Donegal”, in Railway Magazine, page 129:
      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.
  3. (travel) To hitchhike
    So I started thumbin' back east, toward my hometown.
  4. To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling.
  5. To manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
    • 2009, Jon Sharp, The Trailsman #337: Silver Showdown:
      Fargo palmed out his own revolver, thumbing back the hammer as the barrel came up.
    • 2015, Tony Monchinski, Bad Men (I Kill Monsters Book 3):
      Rainford reached down and found the revolver. Thumbing the cylinder open, he inspected the load.
    • 2015, Don Fitzsimmons, If You Need a Laugh:
      Andy opened the revolver, thumbed in a cartridge.
  6. To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.
    • 2011, Hans-Christian Vortisch, GURPS Tactical Shooting, page 14:
      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.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Terms derived from thumb (verb)
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  • (firing a single action revolver via hammer flicks while trigger is held down) fanning (using opposite hand instead of thumb)

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “thumb”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Albanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From *thon (“(finger)nail”) (modern thua). More at thua.

Noun

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thumb m (plural thumba)

  1. stinger (of a bee)
  2. thorn, prick
  3. bell clapper, tongue (of bell)
  4. tack, thumbtack, shoe tack (spike)
  5. point of arrowhead, spiked tip of a goad or prod

Derived terms

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Noun

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thumb (plural thumbes)

  1. Alternative form of þombe (“thumb”)
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