thumb

verb

thumbed; thumbing; thumbs

intransitive verb

1

: to turn over pages

thumb through a book

2

: to travel by thumbing rides : hitchhike

thumbed across the country

transitive verb

1

: to request or obtain (a ride) in a passing automobile by signaling with the thumb

2

a

: to leaf through (pages) with the thumb : turn

b

: to soil or wear by or as if by repeated thumbing

a badly thumbed book

see also:

thumb one's nose

Synonyms of thumb

• hitch
• bum
• hitchhike

Examples of thumb in a Sentence

I thumbed a ride to school.

He thumbed his way to New York.

He thumbed across the country.

Recent Examples on the Web

Even games with anti-cheat that thumbed their nose at Linux and the Steam Deck are now supporting Windows on Arm, too. —Sean Hollister, The Verge, 1 June 2026

McCain first thumbed the pages en route to the Tarkanian Classic, a notable high school tournament in Las Vegas. —Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 23 May 2026

But Harris believes the end result is an ambitious attempt to thumb its nose at the patriarchy while allowing a story that addresses abuse, violence, and trauma to also be an incredibly fun time. —Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 16 May 2026

Emin’s masterpiece thumbed its nose at a tradition of recumbent feminine flesh on tousled white sheets (think Titian’s Venus of Urbino, Manet’s Olympia, or any number of bosomy Lucian Freud nudes). —Literary Hub, 21 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1647, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2a

Phrases Containing thumb

• green thumb
• hop-o'-my-thumb
• lady's thumb
• miller's-thumb
• rule of thumb
• stick/stand out like a sore thumb
• thumb drive
• thumb index
• thumb-indexed
• thumb one's nose
• thumb one's nose at
• thumb piano
• thumb through
• under one's thumb
• under someone's thumb
• under the thumb

Rhymes for thumb

• bum
• chum
• come
• crum
• cum
• drum
• dum
• dumb
• from
• frum
• glum
• gum

Video

When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

Kids Definition

thumb

1 of 2 noun

ˈthəm 

1

a

: the short thick first finger of the human hand next to the index finger

b

: the similar structure in lower animals

2

: the part of a glove or mitten that covers the thumb

thumb

2 of 2 verb

1

: to turn pages with the thumb

thumb through a book

2

: to seek or get a ride in a passing automobile by sticking out one's thumb

Medical Definition

thumb

noun

ˈthəm 

: the short and thick first or most preaxial digit of the human hand that differs from the other fingers in having only two phalanges, in having greater freedom of movement, and in being opposable to the other fingers