thumb-piece
(ˈθʌmpiːs)
a. The part of a handle, etc., intended to receive the thumb; a part of a mechanism operated by pressure of the thumb.
| 1759 Mountaine in Phil. Trans. LI. 290 A piece of the deal moulding..adjoining to the brass thumb-piece,..was splintered off. 1868 Report Munitions of War 63 The breech-block turns over and is secured in position, when closed, by a vertical bolt with a projecting thumb-piece at the side. 1883 Romanes Ment. Evol. Anim. xx. 351 note, A cat which jumps at a thumb-latch, and while holding on to the curved handle beneath with one foreleg, depresses the thumb-piece with the other. 1894 Proc. Soc. Antiq. 22 Nov. 238 The lid [of a ewer]..has a thumb-piece. |
b. (See quot.) dial.
| 1882 W. Worc. Gloss., Thumb-piece, a piece of bread with cheese or meat, held between the thumb and finger. 1897 Daily News 5 Nov. 10/7 Eating his dinner, which consisted of a thumb piece of fat pork and bread. |
c. A covering for the thumb, as the leathern pad worn by needle-grinders; the thumb of a glove or mitten (= thumb n. 2).
| 1891 in Cent. Dict. 1899 Daily News 15 July 7/4 The sleeves of this dress cover nearly half the hand, and can be made with thumb-pieces, like mittens. |