thumb
noun
the short, thick, inner digit of the human hand, next to the forefinger.
were thumbing
-
past progressiveof thumb.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Gabriel Tiné, an 18-year-old osteopathy student in Paris, has spent over €200 from his pass at Citeaux Sphère, a Parisian record store, where he and a friend were thumbing through vinyls on a recent afternoon.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2021
“To put out this minority report, it was as if you were thumbing your nose at months and months of process where people were really working together.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2013
Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax only became unstoppable after Radio 1 banned it, enabling purchasers to feel they were thumbing their nose at the stuffy censoriousness of the state broadcaster.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 11, 2013
Last week the 13,500 fruit-growing members were thumbing through the long report presented fortnight ago by General Manager Paul Stuart Armstrong at the Exchange's annual meeting in Los Angeles.
From Time Magazine Archive
Tears streamed down her face, and even though I couldn’t see anybody else’s face, really, I could tell a lot of people were crying by the way folks were thumbing the corners of their eyes.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
