thimble

American  

[thim-buhl] / ˈθɪm bəl /

noun

• thimbles
  plural

1. a small cap, usually of metal, worn over the fingertip to protect it when pushing a needle through cloth in sewing.

2. Mechanics. any of various similar devices or attachments.

3. Nautical. a metal ring with a concave groove on the outside, used to line the outside of a ring of rope forming an eye.

4. a sleeve of sheet metal passing through the wall of a chimney, for holding the end of a stovepipe or the like.

5. a thimble-shaped printing element with raised characters on the exterior: used in a type of electronic typewriter or computer printer thimbleprinter.

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thimble British  

/ ˈθɪmbəl /

noun

1. a cap of metal, plastic, etc, used to protect the end of the finger when sewing

2. any small metal cap resembling this

3. nautical a loop of metal having a groove at its outer edge for a rope or cable, for lining the inside of an eye

4. short for thimbleful

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• thimblelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• thimbles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of thimble

before 1000; Middle English thym ( b ) yl, Old English thȳmel; akin to Old Norse thumall thumb of a glove. See thumb, -le

Explanation

A thimble is a device that protects your fingertips from being pricked by a needle. It's a good idea to use a thimble when you're sewing by hand. When you sew with a needle and thread, you can wear a thimble on whichever finger you tend to use for pushing the needle through the cloth. Most thimbles are made of metal (originally they were made from leather) and fit like a small cup over your fingertip. The word thimble shares a root with the word thumb.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thimble thimbles

A piece of Fern’s called out societal expectations that a woman “unobtrusively gather up her thimble and, retiring into some out-of-the-way place, gradually scoop out her coffin with it.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026

For all its suffocating air of unease, “Keeper” is as deep as a thimble, having little to say about relationships, toxic men or anything else.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025

Next to that, Charlotte's pudge paranoia is a thimble of that bone broth she forlornly sucks down in her quick weight-loss quest.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2023

NIF drew headlines in 2022 when it produced more energy from the thimble than the lasers put in, a milestone relevant to civilian efforts to generate fusion power.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 20, 2023

He pushed past her and dug furiously through a pile of paper scraps, until he uncovered a thimble with a piece of leather stretched across its open end.

From "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread" by Kate DiCamillo

It’s fun to do the research, figure out what everything is, because I have all sorts of objects, like fossils and minerals and Avon thimbles from the ’80s and Japanese toys from the ’60s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2025

Olympus Medical Systems produces duodenoscopes with disposable tip covers shaped like tiny thimbles that cover the camera at the far end of the instrument.

From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2023

Musicians shouted and whispered in addition to playing their instruments, from which they drew eerie sounds by bowing on the underside of the strings and wearing thimbles on their fingers.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2022

They also recorded snap times when fingers were covered in various materials, such as thimbles, latex gloves, or lotion, to study the role of friction.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 16, 2021

The shame was nothing I ever could have conveyed with thimbles or squirt guns filled with mayonnaise.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris