Search the Dictionary

The space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; eighth of a fathom.

A pitched ball in throwing which the pitcher grips the ball between two, or three, fingers on one side (which is made slippery, as by saliva) and the thumb on the other side, and delivers it so that it slips off the fingers with the least possible friction. When pitched directly overhand a spit ball darts downward, whe…

so that it may fall in particles. And the priest shall . . . sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. Lev. xiv. 16.

ften, to compress so as to expel juice, moisture, etc.; as, to squeeze an orange with the fingers; to squeeze the hand in friendship.

without taste or smell, and giving a very peculiar creaking sound when rubbed between the fingers. It is used as a food, in the production of commercial grape sugar, for stiffening linen in laundries, in making paste, etc.

mes so short as to appear only as angles to the disklike body. Called also sea star, five-finger, and stellerid.

o penetrate; to push, thrust, or drive, so as to pierce; as, to stick a needle into one's finger. Thou stickest a dagger in me. Shak.

To regulate the sounds of, as musical strings, by pressing them against the finger board with the finger, or by shortening in any way the vibrating part.

Catholic churches for containing the holy water with which those who enter, dipping their fingers in it, cross themselves; -- called also holy-water stoup.

t is amputated or destroyed; a fixed or rooted remnant; a stub; as, the stump of a leg, a finger, a tooth, or a broom.

Pliant; flexible; easily bent; as, supple joints; supple fingers.

on; warrant. [Obs.] She called the saints to surety, That she would never put it from her finger, Unless she gave it to yourself. Shak.

narrowed toward the point; becoming small toward one end; conical; pyramidical; as, taper fingers.

A child's toy, somewhat resembling a top, and twirled by the fingers. The staggerings of the gentleman . . . were like those of a teetotum nearly spent. Dickens.

sired state or quality; to grow soft and pliable. I have him already tempering between my finger and my thumb, and shortly will I seal with him. Shak.

sides; thus, the square, the parallelogram, the rhombus, and the trapezium are tetragonal fingers.

s, a timber seven inches thick. Were it as thick as is a branched oak. Chaucer. My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. 1 Kings xii. 10.

A kind of cap or cover, or sometimes a broad ring, for the end of the finger, used in sewing to protect the finger when pushing the needle through the material. It is usually made of metal, and has upon the outer surface numerous small pits to catch the head of the needle.

s grasped with the hand, which also holds the spear, toward the middle, above it with the finger and thumb, the effect being to bring the place of support nearer the center of the spear, and practically lengthen the arm in the act of throwing.

To play rudely or monotonously on a stringed instrument with the fingers; to strum.