five-finger

American  

[fahyv-fing-ger] / ˈfaɪvˌfɪŋ gər /

noun

1. any of certain species of potentilla having leaves of five leaflets, as Potentilla canadensis.

2. Virginia creeper.

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five-finger British  

noun

1. any of various plants having five-petalled flowers or five lobed leaves, such as cinquefoil and Virginia creeper

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Etymology

Origin of five-finger

before 1000; Middle English; Old English fīffingre

Example Sentences

Veteran linebacker Jon Bostic said if he’s not in cleats, he’s in Crocs, and offensive lineman Wes Schweitzer, a rock climber, likes five-finger toe shoes.

From Washington Post • Nov. 22, 2022

What was "Ulysses" but Joyce working five-finger changes on the novel after a century of Dickens stories?

From Salon • Aug. 5, 2018

Cage spoke of five-finger exercises, and we heard his Suite for Toy Piano.

From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2015

Lasting only a few seconds, they often lie completely within a five-finger span so that the performer doesn't have to move her or his hands up and down the keyboard.

From The Guardian • Jun. 8, 2012

But the growth of the artistic soul is not accomplished through the fingers, and indeed it is not infrequently strangled at birth by five-finger exercises.

From Spirit and Music by Hunt, H. Ernest