I. ˈfiŋgə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German fingar finger, Old Norse fingr, Gothic fingrs, and perhaps to Old English fīf five — more at five
1. : one of the five terminating members of the hand : a digit of the forelimb ; specifically : one of the four extremities of the hand other than the thumb
2.
a. : something that resembles or does the work of a finger
a finger of toast
a finger of land extending into the sea
the finger of a clock
b. : a part of a glove into which a finger is inserted
c. : one of the bananas or plantains in a hand
d. : a vegetable drug cut or compressed into the size and shape of a finger
a finger of rhubarb
e. : a projecting rod, wire, or piece (as a pawl for a ratchet) that is brought into contact with an object to effect, direct, or restrain a motion
3.
a. : fingerbreadth
b. : an amount of liquor equal to the quantity in a glass filled up to one fingerbreadth
4.
a. : concern , interest , part , share
he seems always to have a finger in some magisterial affair — V.L.Parrington
— often used in the phrase to have a finger in the pie
has a finger in every political pie
b. fingers plural : possession
marries the boss's daughter, and gets his fingers on the armament industry — Sherwood Anderson
5. slang : one who keeps tabs on or reports on a person : finger man , informer
first they get a finger on him — J.M.Cain
•
- lift a finger
II. verb
( fingered ; fingered ; fingering -ŋg(ə)riŋ ; fingers )
Etymology: Middle English fingeren, from finger, n.
transitive verb
1. : to touch or feel with the fingers : toy with : handle
eyeing her … as a broker buys a diamond … as a country woman fingers a bolt of tweed — Francis Hackett
fingered his scraggy chin before he answered — C.G.D.Roberts
fingered his heavy underlip as if probing it for a cold sore — Kenneth Roberts
2. obsolete : steal , pilfer , purloin
3.
a. : to play (a musical instrument) with the fingers
b. : to play with a specific fingering
c. : to mark the notes of (a music score) as a guide in playing
4. : to extend into or penetrate in the shape of a finger
the long beams of the searchlights fingering the sky — R.H.Newman
new roads fingering once trackless plains
5. : to point out : identify , indicate , designate
far be it from me to finger any individual to be blasted by the presidential wrath — G.W.Johnson
the man he fingered for the mayor's job was an old-time politician
practically all of them had been fingered by the more reliable ex-Communists — Elmer Davis
as
a. : to point out, name, or identify to the police especially in a police lineup
she fingered a boy friend … as one of the killers — Lew Arthur
b. : to indicate to a criminal (as the intended victims or the place or object to be robbed)
in those days you merely fingered the victim … and in a few days your enemy's body was discovered in the gutter — Danny Ahearn
sometimes the dock boss … fingers the load to be stolen — Malcolm Johnson
c. slang : to keep tabs on : report on : shadow
we've been fingering him for months — L.A.Norris
intransitive verb
1. : to touch or handle something
the rosaries, the strings of round bells … brought them toward him … snatching and fingering — Marjory S. Douglas
2.
a. : to use the fingers in playing a musical instrument
b. : to have a certain fingering (as of a musical instrument)
it fingers like a cornet
3. : to extend in the shape or manner of a finger
the docks fingered out into the water — R.P.Warren
forests, farms, industries … fingering through great river valleys — Betty F. Martin
searchlights fingered across the black water — Time
III. noun
: bird 2 herein