What does "thumb" mean?

1. (the finger) the short, thick finger on the side of your hand that can touch your other fingers. 2. (Internet/Computing) a small version of a larger image on a computer or phone. 3. (to look through a book) to turn the pages of a book or magazine quickly without reading everything. 4. (to hitchhike) to try to get a free ride from a passing car by holding out your thumb.

thumb — meaning, definition & examples

Word

01the finger

A2 · Elementary Countable noun

n. the short, thick finger on the side of your hand that can touch your other fingers.

n. the first and thickest digit of the human hand, characterized by its opposability to the other four fingers.

“He accidentally hit his thumb with the hammer while fixing the fence.”

“The evolution of the opposable thumb is often cited as a critical factor in the development of complex tool use among early hominids.”

Synonyms

digit

02Internet/Computing

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun Computing Informal

n. a small version of a larger image on a computer or phone.

n. a reduced-size version of a digital image or video, used for indexing or previewing.

“Click on the thumb to see the full-sized photo from the gallery.”

“The website's gallery loads low-resolution thumbs initially to ensure the page remains responsive on slower mobile connections.”

Synonyms

thumbnail preview

03to look through a book

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to turn the pages of a book or magazine quickly without reading everything.

v. to turn pages rapidly with the thumb, typically for a cursory or superficial examination of the content.

“I thumbed through the magazine while waiting for my doctor's appointment.”

“She thumbed through the heavy manual, searching for the specific diagram that explained the engine's cooling system.”

Synonyms

browse flip scan

04to hitchhike

B2 · Upper Intermediate travel Informal

v. to try to get a free ride from a passing car by holding out your thumb.

v. to solicit a free ride from a passing vehicle by gesturing with the thumb.

“We managed to thumb a ride to the next town after our car broke down.”

“In the early seventies, it was quite common for students to thumb their way across the continent during the summer holidays.”

Usage

often used in the phrase 'thumb a lift' or 'thumb a ride'

Synonyms

hitchhitchhike

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “thumb” in context.

Verb

01. suck your thumb

“The toddler would often suck his thumb when he felt tired or nervous.”

verb + possessive + noun

02. thumb through the pages

“She began to thumb through the pages of the magazine while waiting for her appointment.”

verb + prep + noun

03. twiddle your thumbs

“We were left twiddling our thumbs for an hour because the meeting was delayed.”

verb + possessive + noun

Adjective

04. sore thumb

“The modern glass building sticks out like a sore thumb among the traditional brick houses.”

adj + noun

Noun

05. rule of thumb

“As a general rule of thumb, you should allow one hour of travel time for every fifty miles.”

noun + of + noun

06. thumb injury

“The basketball player sat out the game due to a painful thumb injury.”

noun + noun

Preposition

07. under someone's thumb

“He felt like he was constantly under his manager's thumb and had no creative freedom.”

prep + noun

“I picked up a magazine and started thumbing through it because I felt I shouldn’t be there.”

The Guardian 1 Sept 2026

“He would spend his childhood under England’s thumb.”

Smithsonian Magazine 1 Jul 2026

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 and Norwegian tomme (“inch”), Norn tum (“thumb”), Swedish tumme (“thumb”), tum (“inch”), Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound”). Also compare Welsh tyfu (“to grow”), Latin tumēre (“to swell”), Lithuanian tumėti (“to thicken, clot”), Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙 (amūt, “strong”), Sanskrit तुम्र (túmra, “strong, thick”). The parasitic ‐b has existed since the late 13th century. Doublet of tomb.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.