1
- the short, thick first digit of the human hand, set lower and apart from the other four and opposable to them拇指。
1.1
- the corresponding digit of primates or other mammals（灵长目动物或其他哺乳动物的）第一指。
1.2
- the part of a glove intended to cover the thumb（手套的）拇指部分。
with obj.
1- press, move, or touch (something) with one's thumb用拇指揿（或按、摸、顶、指、戳、擦等）：
as soon as she thumbed the button, the door slid open.
她用拇指一触按钮, 门就滑开了。
1.1
- turn over (pages) with or as if with one's thumb用拇指翻动; 翻阅：
I've thumbed my address book and found quite a range of smaller hotels
我翻看我的通讯录, 发现里面记了一长串的小旅馆
no obj. he was thumbing through USA Today for the umpteenth time.他已经是不知第几次在翻阅这本《今日美国》了。
1.2
- （一般作be thumbed）wear or soil (a book's pages) by repeated handling翻旧（或翻破、翻脏）（书页）：
his dictionaries were thumbed and ink-stained.
他的词典均起折角, 墨汁斑斑。
1.3
- no obj. use one's thumb to indicate something用拇指示意：
he thumbed towards the men behind him.
他用拇指指着他后面的人。
1.4
- request or obtain (a free ride in a passing vehicle) by signalling with one's thumb竖起拇指向过路汽车要求（免费搭乘）：
three cars passed me and I tried to thumb a lift
三辆车经过我身边, 我伸出拇指想搭便车
no obj. he was thumbing his way across France他搭乘便车行遍法国。
短语
be all thumbs
thumb one's nose at
- informal show disdain or contempt for〈非正式〉对…嗤之以鼻, 蔑视。
thumbs up （或down）
- informal an indication of satisfaction or approval (or of rejection or failure)〈非正式〉赞同; 赞赏, 满意（或否定、排斥、反对、拒绝、抛弃）：
plans to build a house on the site have been given the thumbs down by the Department of the Environment.
环境部反对在这个地方建房的计划。
ORIGIN: with reference to the signal of approval or disapproval, used by spectators at a Roman amphitheatre; the sense has been reversed, as the Romans used 'thumbs down' to signify that a beaten gladiator had performed well and should be spared, and 'thumbs up' to call for his death.
under someone's thumb
- completely under someone's influence or control在某人的支配（或控制）下, 在某人的巨大影响之下。
派生词
thumbed
adjectivethumbless
adjective词源
Old English thūma, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch duim and German Daumen, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin tumere 'to swell'. The verb dates from the late 16th cent., first in the sense 'play (a musical instrument) with the thumbs'.