thumb : Idioms & Phrases

Index

green thumb

  • noun a special ability to make plants grow
    green fingers.
WordNet

hop-o'-my-thumb

Hop"-o'-my-thumb", Hop"-thumb" noun (Also<
  • Hop-o'-my-thumb
  • Hop-thumb
)
Definitions
  1. A very diminutive person. Colloq. liwell.
Webster 1913

hop-thumb

Hop"-thumb` noun
Definitions
  1. See Hop-o'-my-thumb.
Webster 1913

lady's thumb

La"dy's thumb"
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) An annual weed (Polygonum Persicaria), having a lanceolate leaf with a dark spot in the middle.
Webster 1913

Miller's thumb

  • . (Zoöl.) (a) A small fresh-water fish of the genus Uranidea (formerly Cottus), as the European species (U. gobio), and the American (U. gracilis); called also bullhead. (b) A small bird, as the gold-crest, chiff-chaff, and long-tailed tit . Prov. Eng.
Webster 1913

miller's-thumb

  • noun small freshwater sculpin of Europe and North America
WordNet

Rule of thumb

  • noun a rule or principle that provides guidance to appropriate behavior
    guideline; guidepost.
WordNet
  • any rude process or operation, like that of using the thumb as a rule in measuring; hence, judgment and practical experience as distinguished from scientific knowledge.
Webster 1913

tear-thumb

Tear"-thumb` noun
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) A name given to several species of plants of the genus Polygonum, having angular stems beset with minute reflexed prickles.
Webster 1913

Thumb band

  • a twist of anything as thick as the thumb. Mortimer.
Webster 1913

Thumb blue

  • indigo in the form of small balls or lumps, used by washerwomen to blue linen, and the like.
Webster 1913

thumb index

  • noun one of a series of rounded notches in the fore edge of a book to indicate sections
WordNet

Thumb latch

  • a door latch having a lever formed to be pressed by the thumb.
Webster 1913

Thumb mark

  • . (a) The mark left by the impression of a thumb, as on the leaves of a book. Longfellow. (b) The dark spot over each foot in finely bred black and tan terriers.
Webster 1913

Thumb nut

  • a nut for a screw, having wings to grasp between the thumb and fingers in turning it; also, a nut with a knurled rim for the same perpose.
Webster 1913

Thumb ring

  • a ring worn on the thumb. Shak.
Webster 1913

Thumb stall

  • . (a) A kind of thimble or ferrule of iron, or leather, for protecting the thumb in making sails, and in other work. (b) (Mil.) A buckskin cushion worn on the thumb, and used to close the vent of a cannon while it is sponged, or loaded.
Webster 1913

To bite the thumb at

  • (any one), formerly a mark of contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel; to defy. "Do you bite your thumb at us ?" Shak.
Webster 1913

tom thumb

  • noun an imaginary hero of English folklore who was no taller than his father's thumb
  • noun a very small person
WordNet

turn thumbs down

  • verb vote against
    vote down.
    • The faculty turned thumbs down on the candidate for the Dean position
WordNet

Under one's thumb

  • completely under one's power or influence; in a condition of subservience. Colloq.
Webster 1913