thumb·nail
ˈthəm-ˌnāl 
-ˈnāl
1
: the nail of the thumb
2
: a miniature computer graphic sometimes hyperlinked to a full-size version
Synonyms
Examples of thumbnail in a Sentence
Noun
You can see a larger version of the picture by clicking on the thumbnail.
Adjective
a thumbnail outline of the plot of the novel
Recent Examples on the Web
Edward Mendelson, PCMAG, 11 Apr. 2024
Sometimes the titles and thumbnails promise $2,000 a day or $3,000 per day, while others list the amounts in ethereum or percentages.
—Matt Novak / Gizmodo, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2024
Tap any thumbnail to view the clip, download, share, or delete it.
—PCMAG, 5 Feb. 2024
The background is navy blue, which really helps those high-quality thumbnails pop from your screen.
—Sponsored Content, The Mercury News, 10 Jan. 2024
Printing short quotations from books or displaying thumbnails of photographs in search results are considered fair use, for example, as are parodies that use a story’s plot and characters.
—Alex Reisner, The Atlantic, 29 Feb. 2024
Choose from illustrative thumbnails for Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Lifestyle, Filmatic, and more.
—PCMAG, 5 Feb. 2024
Wyze Labs, maker of smart home cameras, informed customers who experienced a service outage Friday that 13,000 camera users received video thumbnails of other people's homes, according to an update posted by co-founder Dave Crosby.
—Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 20 Feb. 2024
About 1,500 users clicked on the tabs showing the other people’s footage, which enlarged the thumbnail and in some cases allowed people to view footage from other users cameras.
—Jordan Valinsky, CNN, 20 Feb. 2024
Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 27 Aug. 2018
Between the two fences that separate Reggie’s enclosure from the public is a sign with the thumbnail version of his remarkable journey to the Los Angeles Zoo 15 years ago today.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2022
What follows is a thumbnail survey of prison museums throughout the United States, selected for their geographic spread; some are widely known, while others are small gems that deserve a closer look.
—Washington Post, 20 Jan. 2022
So the thumbnail version that gets repeated is that the concept of telework was invented by a guy called Jack Nilles, who was a NASA engineer who’s actually still alive.
—The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 13 Jan. 2021
Noun
The left-hand sidebar can show comments, page thumbnails, and document-wide features like a table of contents.
—Edward Mendelson, PCMAG, 11 Apr. 2024
Sometimes the titles and thumbnails promise $2,000 a day or $3,000 per day, while others list the amounts in ethereum or percentages.
—Matt Novak / Gizmodo, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2024
Tap any thumbnail to view the clip, download, share, or delete it.
—PCMAG, 5 Feb. 2024
The background is navy blue, which really helps those high-quality thumbnails pop from your screen.
—Sponsored Content, The Mercury News, 10 Jan. 2024
Printing short quotations from books or displaying thumbnails of photographs in search results are considered fair use, for example, as are parodies that use a story’s plot and characters.
—Alex Reisner, The Atlantic, 29 Feb. 2024
Choose from illustrative thumbnails for Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Lifestyle, Filmatic, and more.
—PCMAG, 5 Feb. 2024
Wyze Labs, maker of smart home cameras, informed customers who experienced a service outage Friday that 13,000 camera users received video thumbnails of other people's homes, according to an update posted by co-founder Dave Crosby.
—Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 20 Feb. 2024
About 1,500 users clicked on the tabs showing the other people’s footage, which enlarged the thumbnail and in some cases allowed people to view footage from other users cameras.
—Jordan Valinsky, CNN, 20 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Click on the thumbnail image to see what that looks like.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 27 Aug. 2018
Between the two fences that separate Reggie’s enclosure from the public is a sign with the thumbnail version of his remarkable journey to the Los Angeles Zoo 15 years ago today.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2022
What follows is a thumbnail survey of prison museums throughout the United States, selected for their geographic spread; some are widely known, while others are small gems that deserve a closer look.
—Washington Post, 20 Jan. 2022
So the thumbnail version that gets repeated is that the concept of telework was invented by a guy called Jack Nilles, who was a NASA engineer who’s actually still alive.
—The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 13 Jan. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thumbnail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near thumbnail
Cite this Entry
“Thumbnail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thumbnail. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
thumbnail
1 of 2 noun
thumb·nail
ˈthəm-ˌnāl
-ˈnā(ə)l
1
: the nail of the thumb
2
: a miniature computer graphic sometimes connected by a hyperlink to a larger version
thumbnail
2 of 2 adjective
thumb·nail
ˌthəm-ˌnāl
: brief entry 1
wrote a thumbnail sketch of the poet
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