thumb

Meaning

Noun

1. The short thick digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
2. The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
3. (Internet, colloquial) A thumbnail picture.
4. A top hatch plate for covering an excavator bucket, used to keep material in the digger bucket after scooping it up, and not letting it spill out.

Verb

1. (transitive) To touch or cover with the thumb.
2. (transitive) To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
3. To hitchhike.
4. To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling.
5. To manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
6. To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.

Synonyms

big toe

finger

pollex

hitchhike

hitch

toe

quarter round

ovolo

browse

flip

riffle

flick

great toe

leaf

inch

flower

🌸

broccoli

🥦

bar

boom

💥

boo

bale

ashes

fellow soldier

fiddle

extremity

fingernail

💅

fir

ditch

blonde

ding

digit

block

baking powder

Ghana

🇬🇭

dew

gauge

gash

grass

grata

greeter

greta

handle

has

hay

hemp

herb

🌿

charge

gangster

homegrown

gage

Translations

pouce

Daumen

pulgar

pollice

duim

polegar

polze

pollex

başparmak

dedo polegar

dedo pulgar

poce

αντίχειρας

dito grosso

Pronounced as (IPA)

/θʌm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: thombe

Inherited from Old English: þūma

Cognate with Western Frisian: tomme

Cognate with Dutch: duim

Cognate with Low German: Duum

Cognate with German: Daumen

Cognate with Danish: tomme

Cognate with Swedish: tumme

Cognate with Welsh: tyfu

Cognate with Latin: tumēre

Cognate with Lithuanian: tumėti

Cognate with Ancient Greek: τύμβος

Cognate with Avestan: 𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙

Cognate with Sanskrit: तुम्र

In summary

Derived from Middle English thombe, thoume, thoumbe, from Old English þūma, from Proto-West Germanic *þūmō, from Proto-Germanic *þūmô from Proto-Indo-European *tūm- (“to grow”).
See also West Frisian tomme, Dutch duim, Low German Duum, German Daumen, Danish tomme, Swedish tumme; also
Welsh tyfu (“to grow”), Latin tumēre (“to swell”), Lithuanian tumėti (“to thicken, clot”), Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound”), Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙 (amūt, “strong”), Sanskrit तुम्र (túmra, “strong, thick”). The parasitic ‐b has existed since the late 13th century.