thimble
Pronunciation: /ˈθɪmb(ə)l/
The English word “thimble” has 9 meanings listed here.
noun
- A pitted, now usually metal, cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, which is used in sewing to push the needle through material.
- As much as fills a thimble (sense 1); a thimbleful.
- A thimble or similar object used in thimblerig (“a game of skill which requires the bettor to guess under which of three thimbles or small cups a pea-sized object has been placed after the person operating the game rapidly rearranges them”).
- A socket in machinery shaped like a thimble.
- A metal ring which a cable or rope intended for attaching to other things is looped around as a protection against chafing.
- A ring- or tube-shaped component such as a ferrule.
- A watch (timepiece).
verb
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English thymbyll, thimel (“thimble”) [and other forms], from Old English þȳmel (“thimble, thumbstall; fingerstall”), then either: * from Old English þūma (“thumb”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”)) + -el (suffix forming agent nouns and the names of instruments); or * from Proto-Germanic *þūmilaz (“thumb-covering, thumb-sheath”), from *þūmô…
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.