thumbnoun [ C ]
uk/θʌm/us/θʌm/B1 the short, thick finger on the side of your hand that makes it possible to hold and pick things up easily
Examples
- The thorn was embedded in her thumb.
- She hit her thumb with the hammer.
- I gave my thumb quite a nip with the pliers.
- I sucked my thumb until I was seven.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
The hand
- -fingered
- carpal
- carpometacarpal
- carpus
- digitorum
- fingerprint
- flat
- knuckle
- little finger
- middle finger
- palm
- paw
- pollicis
- right-handed
- ring finger
- thenar
- triquetrum
- two-handed
- volar
- volaris
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Idiom(s)
all thumbs
thumbs down
thumbs up
under sb's thumb
thumbverb
uk/θʌm/us/θʌm/thumb a lift UK informal US thumb a ride
to stand near the edge of a road and hold out your hand with the thumb raised as a signal for a vehicle to stop and take you somewhere:
We thumbed a lift to London.
thumb your nose at sb/sth
to show no respect, or to raise the end of your thumb to the end of your nose to show that you do not respect someone:
He has thumbed his nose at authority all his life.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Journeys
- adventure
- break-journey
- carpool
- carsick
- convoy
- field trip
- flight
- foray
- journey
- mystery tour
- odyssey
- outward-bound
- peregrination
- pilgrimage
- ride
- round trip
- sail
- short-haul
- the long haul idiom
- trip
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Showing arrogance and conceit
Phrasal verb(s)
thumb through sth