THUMB

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does thumb mean? 

• THUMB (noun)
  The noun THUMB has 3 senses:

1. the thick short innermost digit of the forelimb

2. the part of a glove that provides a covering for the thumb

3. a convex molding having a cross section in the form of a quarter of a circle or of an ellipse

  Familiarity information: THUMB used as a noun is uncommon.

• THUMB (verb)
  The verb THUMB has 3 senses:

1. travel by getting free rides from motorists

2. look through a book or other written material

3. feel or handle with the fingers

  Familiarity information: THUMB used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THUMB (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The thick short innermost digit of the forelimb

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

pollex; thumb

Hypernyms ("thumb" is a kind of...):

finger (any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb))

Meronyms (parts of "thumb"):

musculus abductor pollicis (the abductor muscle of the thumb)

thumbnail (the nail of the thumb)

Derivation:

thumb (feel or handle with the fingers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The part of a glove that provides a covering for the thumb

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("thumb" is a kind of...):

covering (an artifact that covers something else (usually to protect or shelter or conceal it))

Holonyms ("thumb" is a part of...):

glove (handwear: covers the hand and wrist)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A convex molding having a cross section in the form of a quarter of a circle or of an ellipse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

ovolo; quarter round; thumb

Hypernyms ("thumb" is a kind of...):

molding; moulding (a decorative strip used for ornamentation or finishing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thumb"):

echinus (ovolo molding between the shaft and the abacus of a Doric column)

• THUMB (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they thumb    ... he / she / it thumbs   
Past simple: thumbed   
Past participle: thumbed   
-ing form: thumbing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Travel by getting free rides from motorists

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

hitch; hitchhike; thumb

Hypernyms (to "thumb" is one way to...):

ride (be carried or travel on or in a vehicle)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Look through a book or other written material

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

flick; flip; leaf; riff; riffle; thumb

Context example:

She leafed through the volume

Hypernyms (to "thumb" is one way to...):

peruse (examine or consider with attention and in detail)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Feel or handle with the fingers

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

finger; thumb

Context example:

finger the binding of the book

Hypernyms (to "thumb" is one way to...):

touch (make physical contact with, come in contact with)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

thumb (the thick short innermost digit of the forelimb)

 Context examples 

Weedon Scott was in truth this thumb.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“And now, Doctor, perhaps you would kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb used to be.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This was found between the finger and thumb of the dead man.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He tried it with the ball of his thumb or across the nail.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He stood easily, with one thumb in the arm-pit, and two fingers of the other hand in his vest pocket.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He it was, with his two thumbs, who drove out the eyes of Kinoos.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He held up his two hands as he spoke, and showed that the thumbs and two first fingers had been torn away from each of them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I leave it to any expert in the world whether that is not the mark of his thumb.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was about six inches long, and thicker than my thumb, with some indications of dried cartilage at one end of it.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Patients may have deformed thumbs and other physical problems.

(Blackfan–Diamond anemia, NCI Dictionary)