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.

They were thumbing through online dictionaries, looking for a definition of “impugn.”

From New York Times • Feb. 11, 2017

“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

New York City officials last week were thumbing a volume that had 3,276 pages, weighted 34 Ibs. and was 6�in. thick.

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