thumb

See also:-thumbandþumb

English

Picture dictionary

Palm

palm

wrist

thumb

index finger

middle finger

ring finger

pinky (US)

little finger

Click on labels in the image

Alternative forms

• thum,thume,thumbe(all obsolete)

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishthombe,thoume,thoumbe,fromOld Englishþūma,fromProto-West Germanic*þūmō,fromProto-Germanic*þūmôfromProto-Indo-European*tūm-(“to grow”).

See alsoWest Frisiantomme,Dutchduim,Low GermanDuum,GermanDaumen,Danishtomme,Swedishtumme;also Welshtyfu(“to grow”),Latintumēre(“to swell”),Lithuaniantumėti(“to thicken, clot”),Ancient Greekτύμβος(túmbos,“burial mound”),Avestan𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙(amūt,“strong”),Sanskritतुम्र(túmra,“strong, thick”).The parasitic‐bhas existed since the late 13th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/θʌm/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ʌm

Noun

thumb(pluralthumbs)

2. The short thickdigitof the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made tooppose(moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
3. (graphical user interface)The part of asliderthat may be moved linearly along the slider.

   a scroll-barthumb

4. (colloquial,Internet)Athumbnailpicture.
   • 2001,Gary, “Wanna See Porn? Take a Look At These (Free ExpandableThumbs) - CLICK HERE”, inalt.sex.services(Usenet):

Synonyms

• (digit):pollex,digit I,first digit(anatomy);thumby(colloquial)

Hypernyms

• (digit):digit,finger

Hyponyms

• (digit):opposable thumb

Derived terms

Terms derived fromthumb(noun)

• all fingers and thumbs
• all thumbs
• ball of the thumb
• bethumb
• bite one's thumb
• black thumb
• brown thumb
• Chinese thumb cuff
• e-thumb
• fash one's thumb
• get the thumb
• green thumb
• hop-o'-my-thumb
• lady's thumb
• miller's thumb
• Nintendo thumb
• opposable thumb
• rule of thumb
• stand out like a sore thumb
• stick out like a sore thumb
• suck out of one's thumb
• tearthumb
• thimble
• thumbable
• thumb a lift
• thumb a ride
• thumb-a-war
• thumb blue
• thumbboard
• thumb drive
• thumber
• thumb fight
• thumbhole
• thumb index
• thumb-indexed
• thumbkin
• thumb knot
• thumbless
• thumblike
• thumbling
• thumbmark
• thumbmarked
• thumbnail
• thumbnut
• thumb on the scale
• thumb on the scales
• thumb-over
• thumbpad
• thumb piano
• thumbpick
• thumbpiece
• thumb position
• thumbpot
• thumbprint
• thumbprinted
• thumb-ring
• thumb ring
• thumbsbreadth
• thumbscrew
• thumbshot
• thumb sketch
• thumb-sketch
• thumb splitter
• thumbstall
• thumbstick
• thumb stone
• thumbstroke
• thumbsucker
• thumbsucking
• thumbs up
• thumbtack
• thumb tip
• thumb-toe
• thumb war
• thumbwheel
• thumbwheel
• thumb wrestle
• under one's thumb
• under the thumb

Translations

digit

• Abkhaz:анацәаду(anacʷadu)
• Afrikaans:duim(af)
• Alabama:ilbossiki
• Albanian:gisht i madh,gisht i madh i dorës,pulqer(sq)
• Arabic:إِبْهَام(ar)m(ʔibhām)

  Egyptian Arabic:إبهامm(ʔibhām)

• Aragonese:pulgarm
• Aramaic:ܟܪܬܐ(kartāʾ)
• Armenian:բութ մատ(butʻ mat)
• Aromanian:pilicarn,pulicarn
• Asturian:pulgar(ast),dedón(ast),deda(ast),matapioyos(ast)
• Avar:буртӏинкилищ(burtʼinkilišš)
• Azerbaijani:baş barmaq
• Baatonum:atankparu
• Bashkir:баш бармаҡ(baş barmaq)
• Basque:erpuru,hatz lodi
• Belarusian:вялі́кі па́лецm(vjalíki páljec)
• Bengali:বুড়া আঙ্গুল(bn)(buṛa aṅgul),অঙ্গুষ্ঠ(bn)(oṅguśṭho)
• Bikol Central:tanggugurang,tanggurangan(bcl),tangan(bcl)
• Bolinao:tangan
• Breton:biz-meud(br)m,bizied-meud(br)mpl;meud(br)m,meudoù(br)mpl
• Brunei Malay:ibu jari
• Bulgarian:па́лец(bg)m(pálec)
• Burmese:လက်မ(my)(lakma.),ဒေါက်တို(my)(dauktui)
• Catalan:polze(ca)m
• Cebuano:kumagko
• Chechen:please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Thủ chỉ công(sau²zi²gung¹)

  Hakka:Thủ chỉ công(sú-chṳ́-kûng),Thủ chỉ đầu／Thủ chỉ đầu(sú-chṳ́-thèu)

  Hokkien:Đại đầu mẫu／Đại đầu mẫu(zh-min-nan)(tōa-thâu-bú, tōa-thâu-bó),Chỉ đầu mẫu công／Chỉ đầu mẫu công(zh-min-nan)(chéng-thâu-bú-kong, chńg-thâu-bú-kong),Đại mẫu ông(tōa-bó-ong),Đại 捗 mẫu(tōa-pō͘-bú),Đại 捗 ông(tōa-pu-ong),Chỉ đầu mẫu／Chỉ đầu mẫu(chńg-thâu-bó, chéng-thâu-bó, chín-thâu-bó),Đại phú ông(tōa-pù-ong),Đại mẫu đầu／Đại mẫu đầu(tōa-bú-thâu, tōa-bó-thâu),Chỉ đầu công／Chỉ đầu công(chéng-thâu-kong, chńg-thâu-kong),Đại mẫu công(tōa-bó-kong, tōa-bú-kong)

  Mandarin:Đại mẫu chỉ(zh)(dàmuzhǐ),Mẫu chỉ(zh)(mǔzhǐ),Đại chỉ(zh)(dàzhǐ),Đại mẫu ca(zh)(dàmǔgē)(slang)

• Classical Nahuatl:huēyi mahpilli
• Coptic:ⲧⲏⲃ ⲛⲧⲓⲛⲓm(tēb ntini)
• Czech:palec(cs)m
• Danish:tommelfinger(da),tommeltot
• Daur:xereg
• Dhivehi:ބޮޑުވައި އިގިލި(boḍuvai igili)
• Dolgan:эрбэк(erbek),улакан чөмүйэ(ulakan çömüye)
• Dupaningan Agta:agradis
• Dutch:duim(nl)m
• Erzya:пелька(peľka)
• Esperanto:polekso(eo),dikfingro
• Estonian:pöial(et)
• Faroese:tummilm,tummilfingurm
• Finnish:peukalo(fi)
• French:pouce(fr)m

  Old French:polz,pouz

• Friulian:poleâr
• Galician:polgar(gl)m,escachapiollosm,matapiollos(gl)m
• Georgian:ცერი(ceri)
• German:Daumen(de)m
• Greek:αντίχειρας(el)m(antícheiras)

  Ancient:ἀντίχειρm(antíkheir)

• Greenlandic:kulloq
• Gujarati:અંગૂઠો(gu)(aṅgūṭho)
• Haitian Creole:pous
• Hebrew:אגודל(he)(agudál)
• Hindi:अंगूठा(aṅgūṭhā)
• Hungarian:hüvelykujj(hu)
• Icelandic:þumall(is)m,þumalfingur(is)m
• Ido:polexo(io)
• Ilocano:tangan
• Indonesian:ibu jari(id),jempol(id),empu jari(id),biang jari(id),induk jari(id)
• Ingrian:peukalo,täintappaja(childish)
• Interlingua:pollice
• Inuktitut:ᑯᓪᓗ(kollo)
• Irish:ordóg(ga)f

  Old Irish:orduf

• Italian:pollice(it)m,dito grossom
• Japanese:Thân chỉ(ja)(おやゆび,oyayubi)
• Javanese:jempol(jv)
• Kabuverdianu:dedon,dedóna
• Kalasha:ǰeṣṭ ạ́ŋgu
• Kalmyk:эркә(erkä)
• Kapampangan:tindaragul
• Karelian:peigalo
• Kazakh:бас бармақ(bas barmaq)
• Khmer:មេដៃ(mei day)
• Korean:엄지(ko)(eomji),엄지손가락(ko)(eomjison'garak)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish:ئەسپێکوژە(ckb)(espêkuje)

  Northern Kurdish:please add this translation if you can

• Kyrgyz:баш бармак(baş barmak)
• Latgalian:eikssm
• Latin:pollex(manūs)m
• Latvian:īkšķis
• Lithuanian:nykštysm
• Low German:Dumen(nds)m,Duumm
• Luxembourgish:Daum(lb)m
• Macedonian:палецm(palec)
• Malay:ibu jari(ms),jempol,empu jari,biang jari,induk jari
• Maltese:saba’ l-kbirm
• Manchu:ᡶᡝᡵᡥᡝ(ferhe),ᡶᡝᡵᡥᡝ
  ᠰᡳᠮᡥᡠᠨ(ferhe simhun)
• Maori:kōnui
• Marathi:अंगठा(aṅgṭhā)
• Marwari:अंगुठौ(aṅguṭhau)
• Megleno-Romanian:pulicar
• Middle English:thombe
• Mokilese:jaidlap
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic:эрхий(mn)(erxii)

  Mongolian:ᠡᠷᠡᠬᠡᠢ(erekei)

• Navajo:álátsoh
• Ngazidja Comorian:shaya sha kooclass7/8
• Nias:turu sebua(nia)
• Nogai:бас бармак(bas barmak)
• Norman:ponchetm
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:tommel(no)m,tommelfingerm

  Nynorsk:tommelm,tommelfingerm

• Occitan:poce(oc)m,pulgar(oc)m
• Ojibwe:midechininj
• Old Church Slavonic:пальцьm(palĭcĭ)
• Old English:þūmam
• Oromo:abbuudduu
• Ossetian:хистӕр ӕнгуылдз(xistær æng°ylʒ)
• Ottoman Turkish:باش پرمق(baš parmak)
• Pangasinan:tangan
• Pennsylvania German:Daumem
• Persian:ابهام(fa)(ebhâm),شست(fa)(šast)
• Piedmontese:pòlem
• Pitjantjatjara:maṟa mama
• Plautdietsch:Dümem
• Polish:kciuk(pl)minan
• Portuguese:dedo polegar(pt)m,polegar(pt)m
• Punjabi:ਅੰਗੂਠਾ(pa)(aṅgūṭhā)
• Romanian:deget maren,policar(ro)
• Russian:большо́й па́лец(ru)m(bolʹšój pálec)
• Sami:

  Inari:pelgi

  Northern:bealgi

  Skolt:peä´lǧǧ

  Southern:bielkie

• Sanskrit:अङ्गुष्ठ(sa)(aṅguṣṭha)
• Scots:thoum
• Scottish Gaelic:òrdagf
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:палацm

  Roman:palac(sh)m

• Sicilian:puseri(scn)
• Slovak:palecm
• Slovene:palec(sl)m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian:wjeliki palcm

• Southern Altai:эргек(ergek)
• Southern Kalinga:paama
• Spanish:pulgar(es)m
• Sundanese:jempol(su)
• Swahili:kidole gumba
• Swedish:tumme(sv)c
• Tagalog:hinlalakin
• Tarifit:ikmezm,iymezm
• Telugu:బొటనవేలు(boṭanavēlu)
• Thai:นิ้วโป้ง(níu-bpôong),หัวแม่มือ(hǔua-mɛ̂ɛ-mʉʉ),นิ้วหัวแม่มือ(th)(níu-hǔua-mɛ̂ɛ-mʉʉ)
• Tibetan:མཐེ་བོང(mthe bong),མཐེ་པོ(mthe po)
• Tigrinya:ዓባይ ዓባይቶ(ʿabay ʿabayto)
• Tocharian B:mokoce
• Turkish:başparmak(tr)m
• Turkmen:başam barmak(tk)
• Tuvan:матпаадыр(matpaadır)
• Udmurt:пӧлы(pöly)
• Ukrainian:вели́кий па́лецьm(velýkyj pálecʹ)
• Venetian:masapeoci,dedón,deolón
• Vietnamese:ngón tay cái(vi)
• Volapük:döm(vo)
• Waray-Waray:tamuragko
• Welsh:bawd(cy)morf
• West Coast Bajau:indung
• West Frisian:tomme
• Winnebago:šaak hoxete
• Yakut:эрбэх(erbeq)
• Yiddish:גראָבער פֿינגערm(grober finger)
• Yoruba:àtàǹpàkò
• Yup'ik:asaun,ayaun,kul'u

part of a slider

• Finnish:liu’utin
• Greek:εγκοπή ευρετηρίασηςf(egkopí evretiríasis)
• Norwegian:tommeskruem

Verb

thumb(third-person singular simple presentthumbs,present participlethumbing,simple past and past participlethumbed)

1. (transitive)To touch or cover with the thumb.

   tothumbthe touch-hole of a cannon

   • 2022November 15,Patrick Wintour,“Sergei Lavrov, a fixture of Russian diplomacy facing his toughest test in Ukraine”, inThe Guardian‎^[1]:

     News agencies reported Lavrov had been sent to hospital for a checkup, only for the Russian foreign ministry to rush out a picture of Lavrov in shorts, sporting an Apple watch and Jean-Michel Basquiat-inspired T-shirt,thumbinghis notes for his first address at the summit on Tuesday.

2. (transitive,withthrough)To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read itcursorily.

   Synonyms:peruse(in one of its senses),flip through

   thumbthrough

   Ithumbedthrough the book and decided not to bother reading it all.

   • 1948March and April, “Notes and News: Lines in County Donegal”, inRailway Magazine,page129:

     It is also disconcerting when you suddenly realise that the driver isn't steering, but may bethumbingover his Customs papers with his feet up.

3. (travel)Tohitchhike

   So I startedthumbin'back east, toward my hometown.

   • 1969,Kris Kristofferson,Fred Foster,Me and Bobby McGee:

     Bobbythumbeda diesel down, just before it rained.

   • 1980,Kye Fleming,Dennis Morgan,Smoky Mountain Rain:

     Thumbedadieseldown, outside a cafe.

4. Tosoilorwearwith the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, byfrequenthandling.
   • 1849–1861,Thomas Babington Macaulay,chapter 13, inThe History of England from the Accession of James the Second,volumes(please specify |volume=I to V),London:Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans,→OCLC:

     He gravely informed the enemy that all his cards had beenthumbedto pieces, and begged them to let him have a few more packs.

5. To manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
   • 2009,Jon Sharp,The Trailsman #337: Silver Showdown:

     Fargo palmed out his own revolver,thumbingback the hammer as the barrel came up.

   • 2015,Tony Monchinski,Bad Men (I Kill Monsters Book 3):

     Rainford reached down and found the revolver.Thumbingthe cylinder open, he inspected the load.

   • 2015,Don Fitzsimmons,If You Need a Laugh:

     Andy opened the revolver,thumbedin a cartridge.

6. To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.
   • 2011,Hans-Christian Vortisch,GURPS Tactical Shooting,page14:

     Tothumba single-action revolver, hold down the trigger and use the thumb on the same hand to fire the gun by manipulating the hammer.

Synonyms

• (to turn pages):browse,leaf,page,peruse

Derived terms

Terms derived fromthumb(verb)

• thumb one's nose
• thumb a lift
• thumb a ride
• thumb down
• thumb through
• well-thumbed

Related terms

• (firing a single action revolver via hammer flicks while trigger is held down)fanning(using opposite hand instead of thumb)

Translations

touch with the thumb

• Finnish:koskeapeukalolla,peukaloida(fi)
• Russian:мусо́лить(ru)(musólitʹ)(make dirty by extensive use)

turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily

• Bulgarian:прелиствам(prelistvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Phiên duyệt／Phiên duyệt(zh)(fānyuè)

• Finnish:selailla(fi)
• French:feuilleter(fr)
• German:durchblättern(de)
• Russian:листа́ть(ru)(listátʹ),проли́стывать(ru)(prolístyvatʹ),перели́стывать(ru)(perelístyvatʹ)
• Turkish:sayfalarıkarıştırmak(tr)

Albanian

Alternative forms

• thumbi,thump

Etymology

From*thon(“(finger)nail”)(modernthua). More atthua.

Noun

thumbm(pluralthumba)

1. stinger(of a bee)
2. thorn,prick
3. bellclapper,tongue (of bell)
4. tack,thumbtack,shoe tack (spike)
5. point ofarrowhead,spiked tip of a goad or prod

Derived terms

• thumbull

Middle English

Alternative forms

• þumb

Noun

thumb(pluralthumbes)

1. Alternative form ofþombe(“thumb”)