I. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
jerking...thumb
▪
‘Is that the only way out of here?’ he asked, jerking a thumb at the door.
thumb index
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
green
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Instead, the friendly green thumbs at Tucson Botanical Gardens choose to throw open their gates for free.
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She can help just about anyone grow a green thumb .
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If you fetched the green , a thumb shot in the air.
left
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The F attachment can be switched in instantaneously by a valve operated by the left thumb .
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But Jones missed 11 games at the start of the season with a torn ligament in his left thumb .
right
▪
First those of the right thumb .
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Guard Malik Sealy had his fractured right thumb examined again and is expected to be out no more than two weeks.
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The only other thing I remember catching was my right thumb .
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As for the report, it says, in brief, that my right thumb and middle finger have been identified.
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Most fetuses sucked their right thumb , with only 5.4% preferring their left.
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Hussain's right thumb was broken by a rising delivery from Shoaib-the latest in a string of mishaps for him.
sore
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I mean, it sticks out like a sore thumb .
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For these reasons feminist values stand out like a sore thumb .
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We stand out like sore thumbs .
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There's no cover, and - as happened to me - any stranger sticks out like a sore thumb .
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The box at Marske-in-Swaledale, which turns its blank stainless steel back to the main road, is a particularly sore thumb .
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Having said that, in some of the bits of Shoreditch I passed through I stuck out like a sore thumb .
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You stick out like a sore thumb in that ghastly uniform, Charles.
■ VERB
break
▪
So he went at me, but I ducked and he hit the shelf - he broke his thumb in two places!
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While he and a niece were playing, Jones suffered a broken left thumb .
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Her bones were so fragile that she would break her thumb just by leaning on her walking stick.
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As long as I don't break my thumb .
fracture
▪
The day began with confirmation of what the Clippers already knew: Sealy has a fractured thumb .
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Guard Malik Sealy had his fractured right thumb examined again and is expected to be out no more than two weeks.
▪
All of this was without a completely healthy Travis Knight, who is slowly recovering from a fractured left thumb .
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Charles Oakley is out with a fractured thumb .
jerk
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He waved and grinned at her and jerked a thumb upwards.
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The doctor jerked a thumb to the right.
suck
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She was sucking her thumb so it came out very indistinctly.
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When she brought it, he was sitting at his typewriter, sucking his damaged thumb .
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Then he led her to his bed and let her sleep, childlike in her position as she sucked her thumb .
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Most fetuses sucked their right thumb , with only 5.4% preferring their left.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be all fingers and thumbs
▪
She was all fingers and thumbs - and worry.
rule of thumb
▪
You should tip bellmen $1- $2 per bag, as a rule of thumb.
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A good rule of thumb is to think of 30k as around the upper limit for a page.
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As a rule of thumb, funds with durations of one to three years are relatively conservative.
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Business development professionals often rely on simple rules of thumb to sort potential relationships and weed out unlikely partners.
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In general, the rule of thumb was that one's peers were seconded to perform the role.
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It was a place, Wade came to understand, where lost was a rule of thumb.
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Journalists have a rule of thumb: the more a person knows, the more that person can learn.
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The rule of thumb no longer mattered.
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When constructing a footpath we follow rules of thumb.
stick/stand out like a sore thumb
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You can't come to the restaurant dressed in jeans. You'd stick out like a sore thumb.
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For these reasons feminist values stand out like a sore thumb.
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Having a whole batch together should make an odd one stick out like a sore thumb.
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Having said that, in some of the bits of Shoreditch I passed through I stuck out like a sore thumb.
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I mean, it sticks out like a sore thumb.
▪
There's no cover, and - as happened to me - any stranger sticks out like a sore thumb.
▪
We stand out like sore thumbs.
▪
You stick out like a sore thumb in that ghastly uniform, Charles.
twiddle your thumbs
▪
I sat there and twiddled my thumbs.
▪
The rest of us could just sit and twiddle our thumbs and drink iced coffee.
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Till then, its quarry sat twiddling his thumbs and not quite smirking.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
As a rule of thumb , funds with durations of one to three years are relatively conservative.
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But it was plainly calculated as a thumb in the eye of the United States.
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I sat there and twiddled my thumbs.
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She put the mustache back and pressed it with her thumb .
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The third had a grotesquely enlarged thumb .
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Then he looked at Bill Wall, extending his hand with finger and thumb crooked.
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When constructing a footpath we follow rules of thumb .
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
through
▪
Without thumbing through Who's Who?, he's now agreed to read four better-known celebrity faces.
▪
As a joke I actually bought it for Richard to thumb through .
■ NOUN
lift
▪
You try to thumb a lift from the cars as they approach from either direction, sweeping you with their headlights.
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Luke Bouverie missed the last bus out of Woodborough to Loxford, so he thumbed a lift .
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Two or three cars passed me and I tried to thumb a lift , but they didn't stop.
nose
▪
So long as he had the support of Sir Rufus Stone, he could thumb his nose at Cotton.
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Voters here have always been drawn to against-the-grain outsiders who make a career of thumbing their noses at party traditionalists.
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Judges who thumb their noses at presidents are thought to be good for democracy.
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Faubus had again thumbed his nose at the judiciary by refusing to appear.
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The way she slept on her side, thumb up against her nose .
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Voters have thumbed their noses at it.
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The protestors were denigrating the primary symbol of the ordained ministry, they claimed, and thumbing their noses at the Church.
page
▪
But just thumbing through the pages will always be a delightful task.
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Do you know how many subscription cards can fall out of a magazine as you thumb through 10 pages ?
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Gloria lay on the bed and thumbed through the pages of her magazine.
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In order to find them, I have merely thumbed through the pages of recent editions of Hansard.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be all fingers and thumbs
▪
She was all fingers and thumbs - and worry.
rule of thumb
▪
You should tip bellmen $1- $2 per bag, as a rule of thumb.
▪
A good rule of thumb is to think of 30k as around the upper limit for a page.
▪
As a rule of thumb, funds with durations of one to three years are relatively conservative.
▪
Business development professionals often rely on simple rules of thumb to sort potential relationships and weed out unlikely partners.
▪
In general, the rule of thumb was that one's peers were seconded to perform the role.
▪
It was a place, Wade came to understand, where lost was a rule of thumb.
▪
Journalists have a rule of thumb: the more a person knows, the more that person can learn.
▪
The rule of thumb no longer mattered.
▪
When constructing a footpath we follow rules of thumb.
stick/stand out like a sore thumb
▪
You can't come to the restaurant dressed in jeans. You'd stick out like a sore thumb.
▪
For these reasons feminist values stand out like a sore thumb.
▪
Having a whole batch together should make an odd one stick out like a sore thumb.
▪
Having said that, in some of the bits of Shoreditch I passed through I stuck out like a sore thumb.
▪
I mean, it sticks out like a sore thumb.
▪
There's no cover, and - as happened to me - any stranger sticks out like a sore thumb.
▪
We stand out like sore thumbs.
▪
You stick out like a sore thumb in that ghastly uniform, Charles.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
As a joke I actually bought it for Richard to thumb through.
▪
Faubus had again thumbed his nose at the judiciary by refusing to appear.
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Once again Azadi thumbed through the intelligence report for some inspiration.
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She thumbed them into the magazine before placing it carefully back in the box with the weapon.
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Two or three cars passed me and I tried to thumb a lift, but they didn't stop.
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Voters here have always been drawn to against-the-grain outsiders who make a career of thumbing their noses at party traditionalists.