thumbtack

[ thuhm-tak ]

/ ˈθʌmˌtæk /

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noun

a tack with a large, flat head, designed to be thrust into a board or other fairly soft object or surface by the pressure of the thumb.

verb (used with object)

to attach or tack by means of a thumbtack.

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Origin of thumbtack

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; thumb + tack¹

Words nearby thumbtack

thumbscrew, thumbs-down, thumbstall, thumb-sucker, thumbs-up, thumbtack, Thummim, thump, thumping, Thun, thunbergia

How to use thumbtack in a sentence

A gram of some fynbos plants’ root tissue – about the mass of a thumbtack – can stretch over 15 football field lengths of territory.
Africa’s fynbos plants hold their ground with the world’s thinnest roots|Jake Buehler|March 1, 2022|Science News
The chart’s dense web of arrows and connections bore an unmistakable resemblance to an obsessive’s cork board covered with red string and thumbtacks.
They called it a conspiracy theory. But Alina Chan tweeted life into the idea that the virus came from a lab.|Antonio Regalado|June 25, 2021|MIT Technology Review
A thumbtack is inserted in the standard near the top to prevent the box from being lifted entirely from the base.
The Boy Mechanic, Book 2|Various
Lay the stencil pattern in position and thumbtack it down to the cheese cloth and blotting paper.
The Library of Work and Play: Needlecraft|Effie Archer Archer

If knives are used to cut out the design, thumbtack the leather before commencing.
The Library of Work and Play: Needlecraft|Effie Archer Archer
The latter she suspended by a thumbtack beside the mirror of her bureau.
Out of the Air|Inez Haynes Irwin
She took the miniature, thumbtack and all, from the wall, 183 and put it in her wrist bag.
Out of the Air|Inez Haynes Irwin

British Dictionary definitions for thumbtack

thumbtack

/ (ˈθʌmˌtæk) /

noun

mainly US and Canadian a short tack with a broad smooth head for fastening papers to a drawing board, etcAlso called (esp in Britain): drawing pin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

thumbtack

COMPARE MEANINGS

Origin of thumbtack

Words nearby thumbtack

Words related to thumbtack

How to use thumbtack in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for thumbtack