▪ I. thumb, n.
(θʌm)
Forms: α. 1 th-, ð-, þuma, 3 þume, 3–4 þoume, 4–5 (6 Sc.) thoume, thowme, 4–6 thome, 5 thomme, 6 thom, 7–8 thum, 8–9 Sc. and n. dial. thoum, thoom. β. 3–4 þoumbe, 4 (6 Sc.) thoumbe, 4–5 þombe, 4–7 thombe, 5 þ-, thowmbe, 6–7 thumbe, 4– thumb. γ. 4–5 tumb, toumbe.
[OE. þ{uacu}ma wk. masc. = OFris. thûma, tûma, tumma, WFris. tumme, tomme, Saterl. tūme, NFris. tüm, tim, OLG. *thûmo (MLG. dûme, LG. dûme, dûm; MDu. dûme, Du. duim), OHG. dûmo (MHG. dûme, Ger. daumen); ON. wanting (deriv. þumall thumb of a glove); Norw. tume, tumme, tome, Sw. tumme, Da. tomme inch, tommel:—OTeut. *þūmon-, pre-Teut. *tûmon- the stout or thick (finger), f. root tū- to swell: cf. Zend tûma fat, Skr. tūtumá strong, tumrá fat, L. tumēre to swell. In ME. the excrescent b after m is found c 1290.]
1. a. The short thick inner digit of the human hand, opposable to the fingers, and distinguished from them by having only two phalanges; hence, gen., the inner digit of a limb when opposable to and set apart from the other digits (as in the Quadrumana and opossums).
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 821 Pollux, thuma. a 901 Laws K. ælfred c. 56 ᵹif se ðuma bið ofaslæᵹen, þam sceal xxx scill. to bote. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 18 Swa greate swa ðin þuma. a 1225 Ancr. R. 18, & makieð on ower muþe mit te þume a creoiz. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 308/319 Strongue is þe þoumbe I-cleoped. a 1300 Cursor M. 21244 (Cott.) Men sais þat of his thumb [G. tumb, F. thowme, T. þombe] he smate, And þat was noght bot for to fle. c 1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.) 158 Makes a cros vpon þo letter with his thoume. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxv. 296 Þi þhommes and þi ffyngres. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxii. 72 (Harl. MS.) Tho anon he toke the thome of the dede man, and made him to seal hit [a charter] with a fals seal. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 749/31 Hic pollex, a thumb. 1507 in Leadam Sel. Cas. Star Chamber (Seld.) I. 260 They hade maymed one William Thomson..& cutte of his right thom. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 38 'Twixt his Finger and his Thumbe, he held A Pouncet-box. 1605 ― Macb. iv. i. 44 By the pricking of my Thumbes, Something wicked this way comes. 1662 Reg. Privy Council Scotl. Ser. iii. I. 237 They..tortured the women by waking, hanging them up by the thombes, burning the soles of their feet at the fyre. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §16 The thumb, which may equally joyn with any of the fingers in taking hold of any thing. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 152 A round Stalk, the Thickness of two Thumbs. 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 183/2 The hinder extremities [of the chimpanzee] are..marked by a thumb—a finger opposed to the other fingers. 1840 Ibid. XVI. 458/1 s.v. Opossum, The whole of this subfamily [Didelphidæ] have the inner toe of the hind foot converted into a thumb. 1869 Hazlitt Eng. Prov. 373 The richer the cobbler, the blacker his thumb. 1893 Hodges Elem. Photogr. (1907) 78 Held between the thumb and finger of the left hand. |
| fig. 1895 Baring-Gould Noémi xxii, I must have more men. I dare not leave Domme [a fortress] without a thumb on it to hold it down. |
† b. The corresponding digit of the foot; the great toe.
Obs.| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 189 A thowmbe [L. pollex; Trevisa, greet too] in the ryȝhte foote of Pyrrhus kynge, the towchenge of whom ȝafe subsidy ageyne venom. 1535 Coverdale Judg. i. 6 They cut of the thombes of his handes and fete. a 1643 J. Shute Judgem. & M. 38 Adonibezek cut off the thumbs both of the hands and feet of seventy kings. |
c. In the lower animals generally: The inmost digit of the fore-foot; in a bird, the first digit of the wing, bearing the bastard-wing or alula; also the hind toe, inner hind toe, or hallux; in insects: see
quot. 1826.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 424 The Nut-mouse,..upon his forefeet.. hath four claws or distinct toes, for he wanteth a thumb. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIV. 612/1 The fore-feet [of a seal] are like the human hand, the middle toe being the longest and the thumb short. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. 370 Pollex (the Thumb). A small accessory joint, attached to the Ungula of the Manus in Mantis. 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. I. 116 [Lemming] Fore-feet pentadactylous; nail of the thumb short and rounded. 1854 Owen Skel. & Teeth in Orr's Circ. Sc. I. Org. Nat. 223 Those which are attached to the short outer digit,..erroneously called the ‘thumb’, are the..bastard feathers. 1860 Mayne Expos. Lex., Thumb,..Ornithol., applied to a small bone of the hand, or third portion of the anterior extremity..also to the shortest toe.., situated behind... Zool., applied to the first finger of the anterior extremity, or fore⁓foot of certain of the Reptilia. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 30 The forefinger hand-bone sticks out a little from the side of the principal one, and bears on its end one finger-bone..which is commonly, but wrongly, called the bird's ‘thumb’. 1894 Newton Dict. Birds 737 Pollex, the thumb or first digit of the wing. |
2. transf. The part of a glove or mitten which covers the thumb.
| 1888 in Cassell's Encycl. Dict. |
3. A thing or part analogous to or in some way resembling a thumb;
e.g. a projecting spur or stump of a woody plant, a tool, etc.; also (
cf. Tom Thumb) a diminutive animal or object; see
quots.| 1745 tr. Columella's Husb. iv. ii, Having remarked the thumb of the former year [superioris anni pollice] one may leave one or two eyes from which it may germinate. 1778 W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 20 Sept. an. 1775, A corn-fork, without the thumb, is the best. 1854 N. & Q. 1st Ser. IX. 385/1 Three kinds..: the weasel, the stoat or stump, and the mousehunt or mousehunter, which is also called the thumb from its diminutive size. 1869 Thumbs and fingers [see finger n. 11 b]. 1901 Chronicle 25 Oct. (E.D.D., Staffs.), ‘Tot’, a small mug, that held a quartern, sometimes also called a thumb. 1904 Science 20 May 803 (Cent. Suppl.) The extremely acute ‘thumbs’ and pinnacles which surmount the trap plateau of different parts of Greenland. |
4. As a measure (also more fully,
thumb's breadth): The breadth of the thumb, taken as equal to an inch.
Formerly it was usual to allow a ‘thumb’ in addition to each yard (of cloth, etc.) measured; this is still the practice in the cloth trade.
| [1611 Cotgr., Poulcée, an inch, or inch-measure; the breadth of a thumbe.] 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 52 A thumbe or Inch is 6 Graines or Barleycornes. 1634 Sanderson Serm. 1 Sam. xii. 3 §29 False weights, false measures, false thumbs, false lights, false marks. 1711 Act 10 Anne c. 16 §4 One Table..with the Length of a Yard nailed or marked thereupon; to which shall be added one Inch more, which shall be used instead of that which is commonly called a Thumb's Breadth. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs (1821) 126 (Linen) The practice of allowing what is termed a Thumb is now discontinued by the Board's order [8th May, 1806]. |
5. Phrases.
a. thumb of gold,
a golden thumb,
miller's thumb: in reference either to the alleged dishonesty of millers or to the lucrative character of their trade.
† b. to bring (a person) above the thumb,
to turn over the thumb, to get or have under one's control;
cf. ‘to twist round one's finger’.
Obs. c. one's fingers all thumbs (etc.): said of a person who is clumsy or wanting in dexterity.
† d. to hit († cross) one over (of, on) the thumbs, to punish or reprove sharply, ‘rap one's knuckles’.
e. (
a)
to bite one's thumbs, as an indication of anger or vexation; (
b)
to bite the thumb at, as an insult: see
bite v. 16.
† f. under (the) thumb, secretly, confidentially.
Obs. g. under the thumb of, entirely at the disposal or direction of, completely subservient to.
h. (
a) In expressions referring to the use of the thumb by the spectators in the ancient amphitheatre, to indicate approbation or the opposite: see
quot. 1880; (
b) in
mod. use (with significance the reverse of that in the ancient amphitheatre):
thumbs down,
thumbs up, gestures made with the fingers closed and the thumb pointing vertically downwards (indicating disapproval or rejection) or upwards (as a sign of approval, acceptance, encouragement, etc.); also
attrib. and
fig.| a. c 1386–1876 [see miller1 1 b]. |
| b. 1469 J. Paston in P. Lett. II. 356 Thow thou can begyll the Dwk of Norffolk, and bryng hym abow the thombe as thow lyst, I let the wet thow shalt not do me so. 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing 48 The gaine gotten by this playe at Dice, where all is gotten with a trice ouer the thumbe. 1603 Dekker Wonderfull Yeare F iv, Shee would haue tickled them, and turned them ouer the thumbs. |
| c. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1562) G iij b, Whan he should get ought, eche fynger is a thumbe. 1870 Echo 16 Nov., Your uneducated man is all thumbs, as the phrase runs; and what education does for him is to supply him with clever fingers. 1872 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 155/2 Whose fingers were reported..to be ‘all thumbs’. |
| d. 1522 Skelton, Thwartyng ouer thom [see thwart v. 2]. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII 33 In the later ende of hys oracion, he a litle rebuked the lady Margaret and hyt her of [Grafton on] the thombes. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 3 The Philosopher..did hit a yong man ouer the Thumbes verie handsomely, for vsyng ouer old, and ouer straunge woordes. Ibid. 137, I haue knowen some so hitte of the thumbes, that thei could not tell..whether [etc.]. 1591 Greene Farew. to Follie Wks. (Grosart) IX. 285 Peratio..thought to crosse Benedetto ouer the thumbs. 1594 Lodge & Greene Looking Glasse (Hunter. Cl.) 9 Well said Smith, that crost him ouer the thumbs. |
| e. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 266 The Clerk was like to byte his thowmis. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. i. 49. [1596 Lodge Wits Misery 23 Giuing me the Fico with his thombe in his mouth.] 1608 Dekker Dead Term D iv b, What shouldering, what Justling, what Jeering, what byting of Thumbs to beget quarels. 1638 Randolph Muses Looking-Gl. iii. iii, Daggs, and Pistolls! To bite his thumb at me? 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. ii. 158 The Spaniards were nettled, and bit their thumbs..in private. 1863 Chambers' Bk. Days 11 Mar. I. 358 It is very probable that..the act of biting the thumb was not so much a gesture of insulting contempt as a threat. |
| f. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 89/1 Diuerse other secret vnderminers, who wrought so cunninglie vnder the thumbe..as if Kildare had prospered,..their malice would not haue beene in manner suspected. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ii. (S.T.S.) I. 171 This consuetude..was, as we vse to speik, vndir thoume stil reteined. a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xxxvi. 299 Privily and under Thumb. |
| g. 1754 Richardson Grandison IV. xxix. 181 She..is obliged to be silent. I have her under my thumb. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. xiii. ¶6 Authors..are under the thumb of booksellers and players. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 65 The lord was a petty king, having his subjects very much under his thumb. |
| h. 1601 Holland Pliny xxviii. ii. 297 To bend or bow downe the thumbes when wee give assent unto a thing, or doe favour any person. 1693 Dryden Juvenal's Sat. iii. 68 Where..With Thumbs bent back, they popularly kill. 1880 Lewis & Short s.v. Pollex, To close down the thumb (premere) was a sign of approbation; to extend it (vertere, convertere; pollex infestus) a sign of disapprobation. 1887 R. Garnett Life Carlyle iv, They had unanimously turned their thumbs up. ‘Sartor’, the publisher acquainted him, ‘excites universal disapprobation’. 1906 Kipling Puck of Pook's Hill 180 We're finished men—thumbs down against both of us. 1907 R. Y. Tyrrell in Academy 9 Mar. 234/1 ‘Thumbs down’ means ‘spare him..’: the signal for death was ‘thumbs up’. 1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 311 Thumbs up, Tommy's expression which means ‘everything is fine with me’. 1929 A. C. & C. Edington Studio Murder Myst. iii. 26 The irrevocable ‘thumbs down’ on a lovely female actor, because certain shady pages in her past had been turned to the light. 1939 War Illustr. 4 Nov. p. iii/1 French peasants now return the ‘thumbs up’ gesture with which they are greeted by British troops on their way to the front. 1946 Sunday Dispatch 8 Sept. 1/2 He ran from his machine giving the thumbs-up sign. 1951 Sport 7–13 Jan. 16/3 The London team has been given the thumbs down sign by a meeting of 1st division promoters. 1951 S. Spender World within World v. 275 Our chief comedian was Buckfast... Everything about him suggested a ‘thumbs up’ attitude. 1954 R. Sutcliff Eagle of Ninth iii. 27 He laughed, and made the ‘thumbs up’ to his troops, calling ‘Well done, lads!’ 1961 Guardian 25 Mar. 6/7 The Chancellor of the Exchequer's thumbs-down to a National Theatre. 1967 Technology Week XX. 95/2 Giving a final ‘thumbs up’ on the rocket's readiness. 1971 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. 5/1 She said the thumbs-down vote was not unanimous. 1976 Scotsman 25 Nov. 3/7 The market yesterday gave Sir Hugh the thumbs-up. The Fraser shares went up 3p to 58p on the report, which was apparently better than expected. 1979 R. Fiennes Hell on Ice i. 14 Both drivers gave a ‘thumbs up’. 1982 Daily Tel. 5 Mar. 17/1 (heading) Baldwin statue gets thumbs down from Foot. |
i. to get one's thumb out of (a person's) mouth, to escape from, to get out of the clutches of.
† the finger next one's thumb, one's closest friend. So
† to be finger and thumb, to be on intimate terms.
† a thumb under the girdle: an expression denoting reserve or unsociableness.
† to a cow's thumb, exactly, perfectly, to a hair.
there's my thumb (
Sc.), in asseveration, in allusion to the practice of licking the thumb in sealing a bargain; see
thumb-licking in 6.
above one's thumb (
Sc.), beyond one's reach or ability.
to fash one's thumb (
Sc.), to put oneself out, to worry or concern oneself.
to clap, put, or keep the thumb on (
Sc.), to keep secret.
to whistle on one's thumb (
Sc.):
cf. to pipe in an ivy-leaf (see
ivy-leaf).
as easy as kiss my thumb.
to have a green thumb: see
green a. 1 k.
to stick out like a sore thumb: see
sore a. 9
f. See also
rule of thumb.
| 1481 Caxton Reynard xx. (Arb.) 49, I shal by my wille neuer more come in the kynges daunger, I haue now goten my thombe out of his mouth. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 68 In yat thou crauest my aide, assure thy selfe I will be the finger next thy thombe. 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glass 130 Wee count a melancholicke man..the aqua-fortis of merry company, a thumb vnder the girdle. a 1613 Overbury Charac., Old Man (1614) E iij b, They call the thombe vnder the girdle grauitie. 1681 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 40 (1713) II. 2 Let him alone, he'll trim their Whiskers and comb their Perukes for them to a Cow's thumb. 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets iii. 104 There's my thumb That, while I breathe, I'se ne'er beguile ye. 1730–6 Bailey (folio) s.v., They are Finger and Thumb, that is, they are so great together, there is no parting them. 1766 A. Nicol Poems 59 (E.D.D.) Your match is nane aboon your thumb. 1786 Burns Earnest Cry & Prayer v, Speak out, an' never fash your thumb. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xviii, We'll leave Mr. Sharpitlaw to whistle on his thumb. 1825 Jamieson s.v., To Clap or Put the Thoum on any thing, to conceal it carefully,..keep it secret. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot., Licking of Thumbs, a symbolical mode of indicating that a bargain has been concluded. 1891 A. J. Munby Vulgar Verses 101, I lay it's as easy as kiss-my-thumb, For to have my way wi' her. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. Simple
attrib., as
thumb-bone,
thumb-breadth,
thumb-joint,
thumb-knuckle,
thumb-unction;
b. in names of objects of comparatively diminutive size, as
thumb-book,
thumb-brush,
thumb-wren;
c. in names of mechanical devices operated by the thumb, or of parts on which the thumb presses in grasping, etc., as
thumb-catch,
thumb-cock,
thumb-ferule,
thumb-hole,
thumb-latch,
thumb-lever,
thumb-milling,
thumb-nut,
thumb-reel,
thumb-sneck,
thumb-switch,
thumb-wheel;
d. objective, instrumental, etc., as
thumb-sucking,
thumb-twiddling (
cf. twiddle v.
1 2 c);
thumb-like,
thumb-made,
thumb-stained,
thumb-worn adjs. e. Special combs.:
thumb-ball, the ball of the thumb (
ball n.1 15);
thumb bird, a local name for the Goldcrest;
thumb-bit,
thumb-blue,
† thumb-bolts n. pl.: see
quots.;
† thumb-case, a thumb-stall;
thumb-cleat Naut.: see
quot.;
thumb-finger, the thumb;
thumb-fingered a., clumsy, not dexterous (
cf. 5 c);
thumb-hand dial., the right hand;
thumb-index, a reference-index consisting of grooves cut in the front edges of the leaves, or formerly of projecting tabs, or margins so cut as to show initial letters or titles, so that any division may be turned to by placing the thumb or finger on the proper initial, etc.;
thumb-kissing, the kissing of the thumb with which the book is held instead of the book itself in taking an oath;
thumb-knot = overhand knot: see
overhand a. 4;
thumb-lancet, the usual form of lancet, having a broad two-edged blade;
thumb-licking (
Sc.), the licking and joining of thumbs by the parties concerned in token of the completion of a bargain;
thumb-lock, (
a) a kind of lock which is opened by pressing with the thumb; (
b)
pl. = thumb-screw n. 2;
thumb-loose [
loose n. 1]
Archery, a method of releasing the bow-string with the thumb:
cf. thumb-ring c;
† thumb-measure: see
quot. and
cf. 4;
thumb-mould, a small mould usually having designs in intaglio, into which the clay is pressed with the thumb in making ornaments for the decoration of ware (
Cent. Dict., Suppl. 1909);
thumb-pad, a pad covering the inner metacarpal bone in some batrachians (
Cent. Dict., 1891);
thumb paper U.S., a paper or card inserted in a book at the bottom of a page to protect it from thumb-marks;
thumb piano Mus. = sansa;
thumb pick Mus., a kind of plectrum;
thumb-pin = thumb-tack;
thumb-piston = piston n. 2 b;
thumb position, in violoncello playing, a position in which the thumb serves as a movable ‘nut’;
thumb-pot, (
a) a flower-pot of the smallest size; (
b) see
quot. 1885;
thumb print, the impression or mark of the inner surface of the top joint of the thumb, made with ink or otherwise upon a receptive surface; also
fig.;
thumb-printing, the use of ‘thumbs and fingers’ (see
finger n. 11 b) in the aquatint process;
thumb-read v., trans. to read cursorily; to turn the pages of (a book) with the thumb in glancing through it;
thumb-register = thumb-index;
thumb-rule = rule of thumb;
thumb-stick, a tall walking-stick with a forked thumb-rest at the top;
thumb-sucker, (
a) a child who habitually sucks his thumb; (
b)
Journalists' slang (see
quots. 1974, 1980);
thumb-tack, a tack with a broad head, which may be pushed in with the thumb;
N. Amer. = drawing-pin s.v. drawing vbl. n. 6 b; also as
v. trans.; hence
thumb-tacked ppl. a. See also
thumb-band, etc.
| 1821 Blackw. Mag. VIII. 430 Along his *thumb-ball, Will his pen-knife tries. |
| 1885 Swainson Provinc. Names Birds 25 Goldcrest (Regulus cristatus)... Miller's thumb (Roxburgh). *Thumb bird (Hants). |
| 1847–78 Halliwell, *Thumb-bit, a piece of meat eaten on bread, so called from the thumb being placed on it. [Cf. thumb-piece b.] |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Thumb-blue, a name for small knobs of indigo used by washerwomen. |
| 1711 C. Lockyer Acc. Trade India iv. 95, I understand Congas [= cangue] to be *Thumbolts. |
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptista) 882 A-pon þe autere scho saw ly As a *thoume-bane propirly. |
| 1715 M. Davies Athen. Brit. I. 77 A little *Thumb-Book, or Pamphlet, call'd, ‘The Office of the Virgin Mary’. |
| 1846 Browning Let. 20 July, You can't write ‘so many lines a day’ any more than you can paint a picture by *thumb-breadths. |
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 39 b/2 As touching the thumbe and the fingers, we must haue a *thumbcase. |
| 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm I. 139, 2 shutters..to open on hinges, and fasten inside with a *thumb-catch. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Thumb-cleat, in shape resembling a thumb. 1886 R. C. Leslie Sea-painter's Log vi. 137 Clumsy thumb-cleats, with more clothes-line twining about them. |
| 1826 Sporting Mag. XVIII. 326 The cap and the *thumb-ferrel on the four-horse whips. |
| 1855 J. Davies Races of Lanc. in Trans. Philol. Soc. 276 note, A word I have occasionally heard in my boyhood, though now obsolete, *thumb-finger. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 11 Aug. 16/1 The inner flight feathers grow first, leaving the thumb finger free until the feathers have grown long enough. |
| 1903 Med. Rec. 28 Feb. 335 Iridectomy must be skilfully and delicately performed. No *thumb-fingered tyro need attempt it with hope of success. |
| 1750 Student I. 332 The third house of your *thumb-hand in Blow-Bladder-Street. 1907 N. & Q. 10th Ser. VII. 467/1 This remarkable expression..heard in the neighbourhood of Sheffield..‘Ye mun go down there, and keep to t' thomb-hand side’. |
| 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 199 The ‘*thumb-hole’ is, however, of recent introduction, and replaced projecting handles. 1902 Daily Chron. 24 Jan. 5/1, I was worrying about that palette of yours. Couldn't you have the thumb-hole in it padded? |
| 1903 Periodical July 16 The Oxford *Thumb-Index Bible is the latest novelty. |
| 1853 Carleton Traits, etc. Irish Peas. (1860) II. 5 *Thumb-kissing is another feature in Paddy's adroitness. |
| 1795 Hutton Math. Dict. s.v. Knot, A *Thumb knot..the simplest of all. It is used..by taylors &c. at the end of their thread. |
| 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. ii, The Lord be with thee, Jan, and turn thy *thumb-knuckle inwards. |
| 1903 Med. Rec. 30 May 853 At a time (1862) when the *thumb-lancet was hardly considered a necessity. |
| 1761 Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1912) XLVIII. 96 Hinges, *thumb latches, hammers. 1801 Nemnich Waaren Lexicon ii. 686/2 Thumb latches, Thürklinken mit einem Drücker. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 167 The outer-door provided with a good thumb-latch, and lock and key. 1883 [see thumb-piece a]. |
| 1773 Erskine Inst. Law Scot. iii. iii. §5. 447 Decrees are yet extant in our records.. sustaining sales upon summonses of *thumb-licking, upon this medium, That the parties had licked thumbs at finishing the bargain. |
| 1895 S. S. Buckman in Pop. Sci. Monthly Jan. 376 The big toe..reveals its former *thumblike use. |
| 1801 Nemnich Waaren Lexicon ii. 686/2 *Thumb locks, Feder-Thürschlösser die mit einem Schlüssel ohne Bart, aufgedrückt werden. 1882 J. Taylor Sc. Covenanters 88 They carried with them..iron fetters, and an instrument of torture called thumb-locks. |
| 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm III. 979 It should be tied in bundles or sheaves with *thumb-made straw-ropes. |
| 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Süant, A poulce süant, by ynch, or *thumbe-measure; the breadth of a thumbe giuen betweene euerie yard in measuring. |
| 1867 J. Hogg Microsc. i. iii. 204 The teeth answer the triple purposes of *thumb-milling, ratchet-stop, and graduation. 1794 *Thumb-nut [see thumb-screw n. 1]. |
| 1965 Lee & Knowles Animal Hormones iii. 53 At sexual maturity in male frogs (for example Rana temporaria) there is hypertrophy of the muscles of the forearms and thickening of the *thumb-pads. |
| 1843 B. R. Hall New Purchase I. xxx. 286 To have used..any other than the *thumb-paper just named would have been considerably worse than ridiculous. 1888 E. Eggleston Graysons viii. 79 Fervid little love-notes..were folded like the ‘thumb-papers’ that served to protect their books. 1942 F. Warnick Dial. Garrett County, Maryland 15 Thumb-paper,..a small piece of paper used to protect the pages. |
| 1952 R. A. Waterman in Proc. 29th Internat. Congress Americanists 1949 II. 212 Melodic instruments..are utilized for their percussive value, as in the case of ‘*thumb pianos’, [etc.]. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia I. 250/1 The mbira is also known as..thumb piano, and by other regional names. The common term sansa is not correct; it is not found in Africa. |
| 1969 John Edwards Mem. Foundation Q. V. i. 13 Riley used a *thumb pick to achieve the heavy bass runs. 1973 Thumb pick [see pick n.1 5 c]. |
| 1904 Harrison & H. Restoration Durh. Cath. Organ, The *Thumb-Pistons will be of solid ivory. |
| 1889 E. J. Payne in Grove Dict. Mus. IV. 300/2 (Violoncello-playing) At present..the use of the *thumb positions is more restricted. |
| 1851 Beck's Florist Dec. 267 As soon as they are sufficiently large to handle..pot them singly in small *thumb-pots. 1885 M. Collins in Eng. Illustr. Mag. 687/2 [Roman pottery] Many are still called ‘thumb-pots’, the sides being indented with the potter's thumb. |
| 1900 Literature 15 Dec. 486/2 The *thumb-print of Kangali Charan..was compared with the magnified lines of the smudge. Identification was instant. 1906 Daily Chron. 2 May 7/5 To-day the photograph of his thumb prints was received from London. They exactly tally with Johnson's thumb-prints made here. 1967 G. Steiner Lang. & Silence 66 Rimbaud left his thumb-print on language, on the name and nature of the modern poet. 1979 Time 30 July 12 Caddell's thumb-prints also were on the energy speech that Carter delivered to the nation Sunday after returning to Washington. |
| 1869 S. T. Davenport in Eng. Mech. 31 Dec. 377/2 This was effected by small inking-rubbers, known as thumbs and fingers, and the printing was called *thumb-printing. |
| 1825 Southey Let. to H. Hill 22 Mar., I had merely *thumb-read his book as a whole. |
| 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. xi, A..trolling-rod, and a large *thumb-reel. |
| 1904 Wordsworth Old Service-Bks. 277 A kind of book-marker or *thumb-register, for finding the places in a book read in choir. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 2 July 2/2 The effect of this missionary work..is not to be measured by any *thumb-rule. |
| a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v. Snack, A *thumb-snack, in which the latch is lifted by pressing the thumb on the broad end of a short lever which moves it. |
| 1934 Dylan Thomas in New Verse xii. 11 The halves that pierce the pin's point in the air, And prick the *thumb-stained heaven through the thimble. |
| 1945 Sun (Baltimore) 25 Oct. 4/3 Believing the *thumbstick to be mightier than the sword, the Boy Scouts are going to lend a hand in the formidable task of re-educating German youth. 1974 R. Adams Shardik xi. 79 Bel-ka-Trazet walked with the help of a long thumb-stick which Kelderek remembered to have seen him trimming the evening before. 1982 Church Times 2 Apr. (Advt. Feature) p. iv/4 Whether it is..a military swagger cane, a stick you have whittled, a Shepherd's crook or a thumb stick from Scouting days. |
| 1891 ‘Mark Twain’ tr. Hoffman-Donner's Slovenly Peter (1935, Ltd. Ed.) 25 Story of the *thumb⁓sucker. 1964 M. Argyle Psychol. & Social Probl. ix. 121 There is also some evidence that children who have little opportunity for sucking, either at the breast or at a dummy, are more likely to become thumb-suckers. 1974 S. Alsop Stay of Execution i. 103 Walter Lippmann wrote the best straight think-pieces, or thumb-suckers as they are called in the trade, of any journalist of our time. 1980 N.Y. Times Mag. 11 May 12/4 Slurs like ‘paper pusher’ for bureaucrat, or ‘thumbsucker’ for columnist. |
| 1858 Geo. Eliot Scenes Clerical Life I. 36 Baby is given to the infantine peccadillo of *thumb-sucking. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 1039 Finger-nails must be kept short and clean, and thumb-sucking and nail-biting discouraged. |
| 1884 I. M. Rittenhouse Maud (1939) 278 [He] coolly left me to put the *thumb-tacks in my picture by myself. 1908 Daily Chron. 27 Feb. 8/1 Fasten all securely to a flat surface..with pins or thumb tacks. |
| 1951 R. Mayer Artist's Handbk. Materials & Techniques v. 187 A much better way to preserve unstretched pictures..is to *thumb⁓tack them face down to sheets of wallboard. 1975 N.Y. Times 14 Sept. x. 1/2 Thumbtacked to the bulletin board was a color snapshot. |
| 1966 D. Francis Flying Finish ii. 24 Round the walls hung framed charts.., a *thumb⁓tacked weather report. |
| 1930 Times 26 Mar. 14/1 Conversation about the weather and sport..often degenerates into dreary *thumb-twiddling. 1964 in M. McLuhan Understanding Media viii. 78 More aesthetic than thumb-twiddling, less expensive than smoking. |
| 1826 Southey Vind. Eccl. Angl. 497 Among all my books there is no other which bears such marks of *thumb-unction. |
| 1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 129/1 High and low limits can be set separately on the comparator by: Dialing *thumbwheel switches on the front panel during routine testing [etc.]. 1976 Sci. Amer. Jan. 130/3 There are even correcting thumbwheels for feeding in ambient air conditions in order to get standardized results on the digital display; they affect only the fourth digit and beyond. 1980 Nature 1 May p. xxii/2 A continuous rheostat thumbwheel control provides a full range of illumination. |
| 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick II. xi. 72 She will..let her have some papers..and *thumb-worn files. 1863 Ecclesiologist XXIV. 338 The thumb-worn binding..would be enough to scare a fashionable Englishman. 1908 W. Churchill Mr. Crewe's Career xvii, Certain thumb-worn schedules were referred to. |
| 1844 Zoologist II. 511 Common wren, ‘*Thumb-wren’, Troglodytes europœus. |
▪ II. thumb, v. (
θʌm)
[f. thumb n.] 1. trans. To feel with or as with the thumb; to handle.
† to thumb the belt of, to be in subjection to.
Sc. Obs.| 1623, 1711 [see thumbing vbl. n.]. a 1758 Ramsay Addr. of Thanks xxvii, They will be forc'd to thumb your belt At last, and a' knock under. 1765 E. Thompson Meretriciad (ed. 6) 30 None had the art To thumb the guineas. 1894 Daily News 17 Jan. 3/1 The ladies and children..stroke his moist nose..; the men punch his ribs and thumb his brisket. 1898 F. Whitmore in Atlantic Monthly Apr. 501/1 He thumbed an edge-tool like an artist. |
2. To play (a wind instrument, an air) with or as with the thumbs; to perform or manipulate clumsily. Also
intr. with
it.
| 1593 G. Harvey New Lett. Notable Contents C ij b, If the Princock must be playing vpon them, that can play vpon his warped sconce, as vpon a tabor, or a fiddle, let himselfe thanke himselfe, if he be kindly thummed. 1641 Milton Animadv. ii. Wks. 1851 III. 209 If men should ever be thumming the drone of one plaine Song, it would bee a dull Opiat to the most wakefull attention. 1675 Cotton Scoffer Scoft 93 One winds a Horn..Another thumbs it on a Tabor. 1755 Johnson, Thumb, to handle awkwardly. |
3. a. To soil or wear (
esp. a book) with the thumbs in using or handling; hence, to read much or often.
| 1644–7 Cleveland Char. Lond. Diurn. 1 The Emperick-Divines of the Assembly,..thumbe it accordingly. 1673 [R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 43 Romances are thumb'd more than St. Thomas. c 1720 Prior Female Phaeton 9 Shall I thumb holy books, confin'd With Abigails, forsaken? 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 391 Within a week after it had arrived it had been thumbed by twenty families. 1878 Arber Pref. to Caxton's Reynard p. xii, These early editions were thumbed out of existence. |
b. = thumb-read vb. s.v. thumb n. 6 e;
freq. const. through. Also, to turn (pages) with or as with the thumb in glancing through a book, etc.
| 1930 D. Hammett Maltese Falcon xvi. 186 He took a battered memorandum-book from a vest-pocket, licked his thumb, thumbed pages, and held the book out open to Spade. 1934 Webster, thumb..v.,..to run over the pages of, (a book, periodical, newspaper, pamphlet, or the like), as by turning them rapidly with the thumb. 1966 G. Greene Comedians i. v. 140 He sat on the sofa and thumbed through Paris-Match. 1966 S. Smith Frog Prince 37, I dare say he had thumbed a book about it. 1976 J. Archer Not Penny More v. 62 Stephen left his study for the Senior Common Room where he thumbed through the latest copy of Who's Who and found the noble lord. |
4. a. To press, smooth, clean, spread, or smear with the thumb.
b. To cover (the touchhole of a cannon) with the thumb;
cf. thumb-stall d. (
Funk's Stand. Dict., 1895.)
| 1768 Ross Helenore iii. 112 Honest Jean..thumb'd it [a cutty spoon] round and gae't unto the squire. 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 185 The tither cake, wi' butter thoom'd. 1899 B. Capes Lady of Darkness iv. 220 A seed thumbed in too deep is often choked from sprouting. 1904 Daily Chron. 7 July 4/4 To thumb down the tobacco in his pipe. |
c. to thumb one's nose: see
nose n. 8
f. 5. To seek or get (a ride or lift) in a passing vehicle by signalling with one's thumb the direction in which one hopes to travel (also
fig.); to signal to (a driver or vehicle) with the thumb. Also
intr., to make
one's way by thumbing lifts, to hitch-hike.
orig. U.S.| 1932 Sun (Baltimore) 4 Oct. 15/8 He was ‘thumbed’ into picking up two lads. 1933 Ibid. 26 Aug. 6/7 New England..is filled with young men and young women who are continually thumbing their way from one camp to another. 1934 Amer. Speech IX. 111/1 Those not fortunate enough to possess a car of their own stand by the side of the road and attempt to thumb a ride. 1939 N. Monsarrat This is Schoolroom xii. 250, I thumbed my way across England..spending..four-and-sixpence and walking about thirty miles out of the hundred and fifty. 1944 H. Nicolson Diary 1 May (1967) 369 Eventually an American lorry came along. We thumbed them. They stopped, and jumped off and with many jokes mended the tyre for us. 1952 J. Cannan Body in Beck vii. 135 He had been thumbed for a lift by a desperate man. 1958 Landfall XII. 32 When a likely lift came by, Pat would..thumb it with a slow impressive sweep of his arm. 1958 Oxford Mail 15 Feb. 1/5 Photographed thumbing a lift near Wolverhampton are two..boys..who hitch-hiked to see the Wolves cup-tie with Darlington at Molineux. 1959 News Chron. 14 Aug. 7/5 The only Government-sponsored effort has been a plan to ‘thumb a lift’ in American rockets for British-made instruments. 1960 O. Manning Great Fortune ii. 146 He..had been ‘thumbing’ his way through Galicia when war broke out. 1975 D. Nobbs Death of R. Perrin 184 Reggie stood at the entrance to the lay-by and tried to thumb a lift. 1979 Listener 1 Mar. 314/2 Like many students..I had thumbed my way through France. |
6. intr. To gesture with the thumb;
esp. to signal with the thumb in the hope of getting a lift in a passing vehicle.
| 1935 G. Stein Let. Dec. in R. L. White S. Anderson/G. Stein (1972) 99 Yesterday an American described thumbing on the roads. 1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris xvi. 309 Gilles thumbed over toward the Abbot. ‘His Nibs should have given us the list in advance.’ 1955 Times 18 Aug. 10/7, I thumbed for four hours without stopping a single vehicle. 1966 R. Price Generous Man (1967) ii. 142 He turned to Yancey.., thumbing to the house—‘Is that all the house old Rooster can afford?’ 1976 N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone viii. 191 He was on the freeway entrance ramp, thumbing with his usual touch of calculated restraint. |