finger
/ˈfɪŋɡə
/noun
1Each of the four slender jointed parts attached to either hand (or five, if the thumb is included): she raked her hair back with her fingers...
- The hands may be broad with short fingers; the little finger may only have one joint instead of two and be slightly curved.
- There was some movement in the hand especially the fingers, thumb and little finger.
- Proceed with moving your ring finger and then your pinky finger toward your thumb.
Synonyms
digit;
thumb, index finger, forefinger, first finger, middle finger, ring finger, little finger;
North American pinkie
1.1A part of a glove intended to cover a finger.She was wearing blue calf-length jeans with her stomach exposed and gloves with various coloured fingers....
- She had black leather gloves on with the fingers cut off and black trousers.
- In winter we wrap up in scarves and Steptoe-style gloves with the fingers cut out.
1.2A measure of spirits in a glass, based on the breadth of a finger: two fingers of brandy...
- I dropped ice into the largest glass I could find and poured out about eight fingers of the sweet liquid.
- He leaned forward, carefully removed the ice from a glass set before him and them motioned to the waiter to pour in precisely three fingers of Pastis.
- If you have 2 or more fingers of drink to allocate they can be distributed between more than one player.
1.3An object that has roughly the long, narrow shape of a finger: a shortbread finger...
- Individually moulded fingers of sushi rice seemed too formal, so I spread the rice in a thick layer over the banana leaf, and laid generous slices of tuna over it.
- Serve with fingers of toasted sour dough Poilâne bread and thin sticks of crisp vegetables.
- Serve with toasted fingers of ciabatta, but remember to bring it to room temperature before serving - fridge-cold pâté will not do.
Synonyms
strip, rectangle, sliver, streak, pencil
verb [with object]
1Touch or feel with the fingers: the thin man fingered his moustache...
- I felt a hand touch my hair, fingering it and letting it drop, strand by strand.
- Gently he fingered several curls that touched his shoulder.
- He would finger each bag for a minute, touching and stroking, and then finally moving it into a larger plastic bag.
Synonyms
touch, feel, handle, manipulate, stroke, rub, caress, fondle, toy with, play (about/around) with, fiddle with, twiddle with, maul, meddle with, manhandle, pull, grab;
put one's hands on, lay a finger on
informal paw, mess
1.1Play (a musical instrument) with the fingers, especially in a tentative or casual manner: a woman fingered a lute...
- ‘I must say, though,’ she said thoughtfully, fingering her violin.
- A few days after that fateful jam session, Rocky was sitting at home, fingering his guitar to a tune only he knew.
- Rowan could just picture her, her hands fingering the beautiful flute as her eyes scanned the sea.
2 informal, chiefly North American Inform on (someone) to the police: he was fingered by a supergrass and charged with murder...
- He was uncovered after his employers fingered him to police over the affair.
- But that doesn't mean defense attorneys and reformers should resign themselves to a conviction every time a client is fingered by a victim's last words.
- These rapidly became forays into entrapment of innocent people fingered by prison snitches trying to get their sentences reduced.
2.1Identify or select: the additive had been fingered as a possible human health risk...
- No one wants to be fingered as the person that does it.
Synonyms
identify, recognize, single out, pick out, spot, choose, select, point out;
inform on, denounce
informal point the finger at, grass on, rat on, squeal on, tell tales about, tell on, blow the whistle on, spill the beans about, sell down the river, snitch on, peach
3 Music Play (a passage) with a particular sequence of positions of the fingers. See also fingering1.Timidly plucking a string, I fingered the lead guitar of ‘Smoke on the Water’....
- The lower oboes are treated as transposing instruments, their parts written to be fingered like treble oboe parts.
- Pianist Eddie Heywood deftly fingers the bridge on the last chorus.
3.1Mark (music) with signs showing which fingers are to be used.The majority of these pieces, the Twelve Impressions, were fingered and edited by Kreisler, to whom the pieces were dedicated....
- Other pianists cringed when I shared Nagy's fingering suggestions for splitting a difficult passage between two hands.
Phrases
be all fingers and thumbs
get (or pull) one's finger out
get one's fingers burned/burnt (or burn one's fingers)
give someone the finger
have a finger in every pie
have a finger in the pie
have (or keep) one's finger on the pulse
lay a finger on someone
put the finger on
put something on the long finger
put one's finger on something
snap (or click) one's fingers
twist (or wind or wrap) someone around one's little finger
work one's fingers to the bone
Derivatives
fingerless
- At least, after yesterday's shopping expedition, I now have fingerless gloves and a beanie and several jumpers.
- Then there's his fingerless left hand, a potent reminder of the dangers of living adventurously.
- I sat inside a sleeping bag with fingerless mittens that allowed me to type.
Origin
Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vinger and German Finger.
Finger is Germanic in origin and the source of many expressions including: point the finger (of scorn) at (early 19th century), the emphatic lay a finger on somebody (mid 19th century), fingers crossed [1920s], and pull one's finger(s) out [1940s].