thumb
part of speech
noun (a thumb, thumbs); verb (thumb, thumbs, thumbed, thumbing)
meaning for a pupil
1) Your thumb is the short, thick finger on the side of your hand. tree →
2) To thumb through a book means to turn the pages quickly. tree →
3) Thumbs up means good or yes; thumbs down means bad or no. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: The right thumb of Aaron and his sons was touched with blood at their consecration as priests. Cutting off thumbs and great toes was a cruel way a conqueror, such as Adoni-bezek, made a captured king helpless. Interpretation: Tradition reads the touched ear, thumb and toe as dedicating the hearing, the work of the hands and the walking of the priests to God's service. In Judges, Adoni-bezek's own words are read as showing that God paid him back measure for measure. In the primary lessons: In science lessons the thumb is opposable — it can touch the other fingers — which helps humans grip and use tools. In everyday life «rule of thumb» means a rough, practical rule. Phrases: «thumbs up», «rule of thumb», «green thumb», «under someone's thumb», «all thumbs».
examples
- And when it was slain, Moses took of the blood thereof, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. (Torah LEV.8.23, JPS 1917) tree →
- But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. (Prophets JDG.1.6, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Adoni-bezek said: 'Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered food under my table; as I have done, so God hath requited me.' And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. (Prophets JDG.1.7, JPS 1917) tree →
- She gave me a thumbs up. tree →
- I hurt my thumb in the door. tree →
- He thumbed through the comic. tree →
- My grandma has a green thumb; her plants grow so well. tree →
- A rule of thumb is to drink water when you are thirsty. tree →
- Babies often suck their thumbs. tree →
- I'm all thumbs today — I keep dropping things. tree →
- Now this was a curious property that Fin's thumb had. tree →
note
Countable. Silent b: THUM. «Green thumb» (US) = «green fingers» (UK). «All thumbs» = clumsy. In some countries a thumbs up can be rude, so check local customs.
In the corpora
- Schools teach the tripod grip: the pencil pinched between thumb and first finger, resting on the middle finger, near the tip.
- Good hand washing rubs the palms, the backs, between the fingers, the thumbs, the fingertips and the wrists.
- The rule of thumb: if it sounds too good to be true, it almost always is.
- Kai stared at his own skins — one slightly sad llama — and his thumb hovered over «yes».
- Sore thumbs or hands after playing are a sign to take a break, not a badge of skill.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «thumb» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.