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Added 9 October 2026

thumb

/ˈθʌm/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about thumb at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

The shortest and thickest 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.
The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
a scroll-bar thumb
A thumbnail picture.

verb

To touch or cover with the thumb.
to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
thumb through
To gesture with the thumb, for example when flagging a ride.

Origin

Derived from Middle English thombe, thoume, thoumbe (“thumb”), from Old English þūma (“thumb”), from Proto-West Germanic *þūmō (“thumb”), from Proto-Germanic *þūmô (“thumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *tūm- (“to grow”). Cognate with West Frisian tomme (“thumb”), Dutch duim (“thumb”), Low German Duum (“thumb”), German Daumen (“thumb”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk tomme (“inch”), Norn tum (“thumb”), Swedish tumme (“thumb”), tum (“inch”), Russian дюйм (djujm, “inch”), Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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