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thimble. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
thimble, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
thimble in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
thimble you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
A thimble
(sense 1) used by a
fur sewer.
The noun is derived from Middle English thymbyll, thimel (“thimble”) , from Old English þȳmel (“thimble, thumbstall; fingerstall”), then either:
The English word is analysable as thumb + -le (suffix forming agent nouns), and is cognate with Dutch duimeling (“thumbstall”), German Däumling (“thumbstall”), German Low German Dümelke (“thumbstall”), Saterland Frisian Düümelke (“thumbstall”), Scots thummle, thumble (“thimble”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Pronunciation
Noun
thimble (plural thimbles)
- (sewing) 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.
- (also attributively) An object which resembles a thimble (sense 1) in shape or size.
- (games) 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”).
- (technology) A socket in machinery shaped like a thimble.
- (nautical) A metal ring which a cable or rope intended for attaching to other things is looped around as a protection against chafing.
1836, Thomas Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations for the Recovery of the Public Stores and Treasure Sunk in H.M.S. Thetis, at Cape Frio, on the Coast of Brazil, on the 5th December, 1830. , London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, →OCLC, page 33:To relieve the stern in a measure from the great weight of the [diving-]bell, a short, strong mast was stepped in the usual place, and steeving forward; from its head to the head of the davit was a span, which set up with two thimbles [footnote: A sort of iron ring.] and a lanyard, and the whole was supported by a strong stay from the mast-head to the stern of the boat, and two shrouds on a side, leading forward.
1849, John M‘Leod Murphy, W[illiam] N[icholson] Jeffers, Jun., “Part I. Spars and Rigging.”, in Nautical Routine and Stowage; with Short Rules in Navigation, New York, N.Y.: Henry Spear, , →OCLC, pages 10–11:The rope part is fitted with a thimble in one end, which is connected to the chain by means of a shackle; the other extremity is spliced around a heart, and goes with a laniard, as in the case of bobstays. The splice of the thimble and the heart should be served.
- (technology) A ring- or tube-shaped component such as a ferrule.
Hyponyms
- thumbstall (“thimble used by a cobbler or sailmaker”)
Derived terms
Translations
cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, used in sewing to push the needle through material
- Afrikaans: vingerhoed
- Albanian: gishtëz (sq) m
- Arabic: كُشْتُبَان m (kuštubān)
- Hijazi Arabic: كُشْتَبان (kuštubān)
- Armenian: մատնոց (hy) (matnocʻ)
- Old Armenian: մատանի (matani)
- Aromanian: dzidzitar
- Assamese: আঙঠা (aṅotha)
- Azerbaijani: oymaq, üskük
- Bashkir: уймаҡ (uymaq)
- Belarusian: напа́рстак m (napárstak)
- Bengali: অঙ্গুষ্ঠানা (bn) (oṅguśṭhana)
- Bulgarian: на́пръстник m (náprǎstnik)
- Burmese: အပ်ထောက် (my) (aphtauk)
- Catalan: didal (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 頂針/顶针 (ding2 zam1)
- Dungan: динҗынзы (dinžɨnzɨ), динҗыр (dinžɨr)
- Eastern Min: 頂針/顶针 (dīng-cĕng)
- Hakka: 頂指/顶指 (din3 ji3)
- Hokkien: 針黹/针黹 (zh-min-nan) (cham-chí, chiam-chí) (Mainland China), 指套 (chí-thò) (Quanzhou and Xiamen), 銅指/铜指 (tâng-cháiⁿ)
- Jin: 頂針子/顶针子 (ding2 zeng1 zeh)
- Mandarin: 頂針/顶针 (zh) (dǐngzhēn), 頂針兒/顶针儿 (zh) (dǐngzhēnr) (Erhua)
- Teochew: 頂針/顶针 (dêng2 zam1)
- Cimbrian: bingarot m (Sette Communi)
- Cornish: byskon f
- Crimean Tatar: oymaq
- Czech: náprstek m
- Dalmatian: ziziul m
- Danish: fingerbøl (da) n
- Dolgan: һүүтүк (hüütük)
- Dutch: vingerhoed (nl)
- Erzya: сургудо (surgudo)
- Esperanto: fingringo
- Estonian: sõrmkübar (et)
- Finnish: sormustin (fi), fingerpori (fi) (colloquial)
- French: dé (fr) m, dé à coudre (fr) m
- Friulian: dedâl, vignarûl
- Galician: dedal (gl) m, alferga f, dedil m
- Georgian: სათითე (satite), სათითური (satituri)
- German: Fingerhut (de) m
- Greek: δαχτυλήθρα (el) f (dachtylíthra), δακτυλήθρα (el) f (daktylíthra)
- Haitian Creole: de
- Hausa: sāfī m
- Hawaiian: komo
- Hebrew: אֶצְבָּעוֹן (he) m (etsbaon)
- Hindi: अंगुश्ताना m (aṅguśtānā), नोक (hi) m (nok), टोप (hi) m (ṭop)
- Hungarian: gyűszű (hu)
- Icelandic: fingurbjörg (is) f
- Indonesian: bidal (id)
- Irish: méaracán m
- Italian: ditale (it) m
- Japanese: シンブル (shinburu), 指貫 (ja), 指ぬき (ja) (ゆびぬき, yubinuki)
- Kashubian: palecznik m
- Kazakh: оймақ (oimaq)
- Khmer: ស្នាប់ដេរ (snap dee), ស្នាប់ម្រាមដៃ (snap mriəm day)
- Korean: 골무 (golmu)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: کلکەوانە (kilkewane), قووچەکە (qûçeke)
- Kyrgyz: оймок (ky) (oymok)
- Lao: ປອກມື (pǭk mư̄), ສນັບ (sa nap)
- Latvian: uzgalis (lv) m
- Lithuanian: antpirštis m
- Macedonian: напрсток m (naprstok)
- Malagasy: fanosehana (mg)
- Malay: bidal
- Maltese: vajlora m
- Manx: mairane m
- Maori: temara
- Mongolian: холбоос (mn) (xolboos), хуруувч (mn) (xuruuvč)
- Navajo: nígíí
- Norman: dée m
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: fingerbøl (no) n
- Nynorsk: fingerbjørg f
- Occitan: dedal (oc) m
- Ottoman Turkish: یوكسوك (yüksük), اویماق (oymak), انگشتانه (enguştane)
- Persian: انگشتانه (fa) (angoštâne)
- Polish: naparstek (pl) m
- Portuguese: dedal (pt) m
- Romanian: degetar (ro) m
- Russian: напёрсток (ru) m (napjórstok)
- Sardinian: deidale, didale
- Scottish Gaelic: meuran m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: на́пршња̄к m, на́прстак m
- Roman: napršnjak (sh) m, náprstak (sh) m
- Slovak: náprstok m
- Slovene: naprstnik m
- Southern Altai: оймок (oymok)
- Spanish: dedal (es) m, dedo (es) m
- Swahili: kastabini, kustabani
- Swedish: fingerborg (sv) c
- Tagalog: dedal, didal (tl)
- Tajik: ангуштпона (tg) (anguštpona)
- Tamil: விரல் கவசம் (viral kavacam)
- Tatar: уймак (tt) (uymaq)
- Telugu: అంగులి త్రానము (aṅguli trānamu)
- Thai: ปลอกนิ้ว (bplɔ̀ɔk-níu), สนับ (sà-nàp)
- Turkish: yüksük (tr)
- Turkmen: oýmak, ýüwse
- Tuvan: чүскүк (çüskük)
- Ukrainian: напе́рсток m (napérstok)
- Urdu: انگشتانہ m (anguśtānā), ٹوپ (ur) m (ṭop)
- Uyghur: ئويماق (oymaq)
- Uzbek: angishvona (uz)
- Vietnamese: đê (vi)
- Volapük: doatahät (vo), doatahätil
- Welsh: gwniadur m
- Yakut: сүүтүк (süütük)
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thimble or similar object used in thimblerig
socket in machinery shaped like a thimble
ring- or tube-shaped component
Verb
thimble (third-person singular simple present thimbles, present participle thimbling, simple past and past participle thimbled)
- (intransitive) To use a thimble (noun sense 1).
- (intransitive, by extension) To sew.
Translations
References
- ^ “thī̆mel, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ^ “thimble, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1912; “thimble, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading