I.
noun
VERB + THUMB
▪ suck
▪ flick , jab , jerk
▪
‘What'll we do with them?’ he asked, jerking his ~ at the suitcases.
▪ raise , stick out
▪
He smiled and raised a ~ in greeting.
▪
I stuck out a ~ and a car stopped immediately.
▪ twiddle ( often figurative )
▪
I sat there twiddling my ~s until the manager finally appeared.
THUMB + NOUN
▪ nail (usually thumbnail )
PHRASES
▪ between finger and ~ , between ~ and forefinger
▪
I picked up the beetle carefully between finger and ~.
▪ ~s up
▪
He made a thumbs-up sign through the window to tell us everything was fine.
II.
verb
Thumb is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ lift , ↑ ride