thumb

noun

/θʌm/

Idioms

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the short, thick finger at the side of the hand, slightly apart from the other four拇指
- She still sucks her thumb when she's worried.她在忧虑时仍然会吸吮大拇指。
see also green thumb
- He smiled and raised a thumb in greeting.他微微一笑，竖起拇指表示问候。
- I picked up the beetle carefully between finger and thumb.我用食指和拇指小心地捏起甲虫。
- I stuck out a thumb and a car stopped immediately.我伸出大拇指，马上有一辆车停了下来。
Topics Bodyb2
Collocations Dictionary
verb + thumb
- suck
- flick
- jab
- …
thumb + noun
- nail
phrases
- between finger and thumb
- between thumb and forefinger
- thumbs up
- …
the part of a glove that covers the thumb（手套的）拇指部分
- There's a hole in the thumb.手套的拇指上有个窟窿。

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’.

Idioms

be all (fingers and) thumbs

to be awkward with your hands so that you drop things or are unable to do something笨手笨脚；笨拙；手指不灵活

hold thumbs

(South African English) to hope that your plans will be successful or that something will take place in the way that you want it to希望（计划）成功；期望如愿以偿
- Let's hold thumbs that you get the job.我们期望你如愿得到这份工作啊。
Topics Successc2

a rule of thumb

a practical method of doing or measuring something, usually based on past experience rather than on exact measurement实用的估算方法，经验工作法（常依据经验而非准确测量）
- As a rule of thumb, you should cook a chicken for 20 minutes for each pound of weight.根据经验，每磅重量你应该煮一只鸡20分钟。

stand/stick out like a sore thumb

to be very easy to notice in an unpleasant way招眼；扎眼
- The blue building stood out like a sore thumb among the whitewashed villas.这座蓝色建筑在粉刷过的别墅中显得格外显眼。
- If you wear a suit to the party, you’ll stand out like a sore thumb.如果你穿西装去参加聚会，你会非常显眼。

thumbs up/down

(informal) used to show that something has been accepted/rejected or that it is/is not a success跷拇指（表示接受或成功）；拇指向下（表示拒绝或不成功）
- Their proposals were given the thumbs down.他们的建议遭到拒绝。
- It looks like it's thumbs up for their latest album.看样子他们的最新歌曲专辑成功了。
- He made a thumbs-up sign through the window to tell us everything was fine.他隔着窗子竖起大拇指，告诉我们一切顺利。
Topics Successc2, Difficulty and failurec2

twiddle your thumbs

to move your thumbs around each other with your fingers joined together抱手旋弄大拇指
to do nothing while you are waiting for something to happen（等待之际）无所事事
- We can't just sit here twiddling our thumbs and hoping everything will be all right.我们不能坐在这里无所事事，希望一切都会好起来。

under somebody’s thumb

(informal) (of a person人) completely controlled by somebody完全受人支配；受制于人
- She’s got him under her thumb.她把他管住了。

thumb

verb

/θʌm/

动词形式

present simple I / you / we / they thumb	/θʌm/ /θʌm/
he / she / it thumbs	/θʌmz/ /θʌmz/
past simple thumbed	/θʌmd/ /θʌmd/
past participle thumbed	/θʌmd/ /θʌmd/
-ing form thumbing	/ˈθʌmɪŋ/ /ˈθʌmɪŋ/

Idioms Phrasal Verbs

[intransitive, transitive] to make a signal with your thumb to passing drivers to ask them to stop and take you somewhere跷起拇指请求搭乘（过路汽车）；示意请求搭便车
- + adv./prep. He had thumbed all across Europe.他搭乘便车游遍了欧洲。
- (British English) thumb a lift We managed to thumb a lift with a lorry driver.我们竖起拇指招呼过路的卡车司机让我们搭上便车。
- (North American English) thumb a ride We managed to thumb a ride with a truck driver.我们竖起拇指招呼过路的卡车司机让我们搭上便车。
[transitive] thumb something (+ adv./prep.) to touch or move something with your thumb用拇指摸；用拇指捋
- She thumbed off the safety catch of her pistol.她用拇指打开了手枪的保险栓。
see also well thumbed

Idioms

thumb your nose at somebody/something

(informal) to make a rude sign with your thumb on your nose; to show that you have no respect for somebody/something嗤之以鼻；蔑视
- The company just thumbs its nose at the legislation on pollution.这家公司完全不把污染立法放在眼里。
- They thumb their noses at all of our traditions.他们对我们所有的传统都嗤之以鼻。