thumb
/ˈθʌm/noun, verb
thumb is spelled T-H-U-M-B: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, thumb means “The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of thumb is thumbs.
How many letters and syllables are in thumb?
| Letters | 5: T-H-U-M-B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,009th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is thumb?
Thumb appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce thumb?
- /ˈθʌm/
- [ˈθʌ̈m]
Thumb has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-thumb.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of thumb
- thumbs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- thumbing participle, present
- thumbed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does thumb mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
- 2
The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
a scroll-bar thumb
- 3
colloquialA thumbnail picture.
- 4
A top hatch plate for covering an excavator bucket, used to keep material in the digger bucket after scooping it up, and not letting it spill out.
verb
- 1
To touch or cover with the thumb.
to thumb the touch-hole of a cannon
- 2
To turn the pages of (a book) in order to read it cursorily.
thumb through
- 3
To gesture with the thumb, for example when flagging a ride.
- 4
To hitchhike.
So I started thumbin' back east, toward my hometown.
- 5
To soil or wear with the thumb or the fingers; to soil, or wear out, by frequent handling.
- 6
To manipulate (an object) with the thumb; especially, to pull back the hammer or open the cylinder of a revolver.
- 7
To fire (a single action revolver) quickly by pulling the hammer while keeping the trigger depressed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Thumb in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pouce , feuilleter |
| German | Daumen , durchblättern |
| Portuguese | dedo polegar, polegar |
| Spanish | pulgar, pólice, dedo pulgar, dedo gordo, (quiro-)dedo gordo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does thumb come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).