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# thumb

«thumb» in Mova's school dictionary: **the short, thick finger on the side of your hand** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#m1)

2) To thumb through a book means to turn the pages quickly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#m2)

3) Thumbs up means good or yes; thumbs down means bad or no. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#m3)

### sense in the 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

- She gave me a thumbs up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#x1)
- I hurt my thumb in the door. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#x2)
- He thumbed through the comic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#x3)
- My grandma has a green thumb; her plants grow so well. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#x4)
- A rule of thumb is to drink water when you are thirsty. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#x5)
- Babies often suck their thumbs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#x6)
- I'm all thumbs today — I keep dropping things. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#x7)
- Now this was a curious property that Fin's thumb had. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/#x8)

### 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.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/5-handwriting-holding-the-pencil-and-joining-up/1/)
- [Good hand washing rubs the palms, the backs, between the fingers, the thumbs, the fingertips and the wrists.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/75-the-dentist-and-washing-hands/11/)
- [The rule of thumb: if it sounds too good to be true, it almost always is.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/281-advert-tricks-and-too-good-offers/11/)
- [Kai stared at his own skins — one slightly sad llama — and his thumb hovered over «yes».](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/411-account-swaps-and-passwords/1/)
- [Sore thumbs or hands after playing are a sign to take a break, not a badge of skill.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/420-eyes-backs-and-thumbs/20/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «thumb» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thumb/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.