thimble
pronunciation
How to pronounce thimble in British English:
UK [ˈθɪmbl]
How to pronounce thimble in American English:
US [ˈθɪmbəl]
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- Noun:
- as much as a thimble will hold
- a small metal cap to protect the finger while sewing; can be used as a small container
Word Origin
- thimble
- thimble: [OE] A thimble is etymologically a ‘thumb implement’. The word goes back to Old English thymel, a derivative of thūma ‘thumb’. In Old English (where it is recorded only once) it was used for a ‘finger-stall’. By the time it reappears in the 15th century we find it being applied to a ‘leather finger-protector used for pushing in a needle’, and it was extended to metal thimbles, introduced in the 17th century.=> thumb
- thimble (n.)
- Old English þymel "sheath or covering for the thumb," from thuma (see thumb (n.)) + -el (1), used in forming names of instruments (compare handle). Excrescent -b- began mid-15c. (compare humble, nimble). Originally of leather, metal ones came into use 17c. Related: Thimbleful. Thimblerig, con game played with three thimbles and a pea or button, is attested from 1825 by this name, though references to thimble cheats, probably the same swindle, date back to 1716 (see rig (v.)).
Example
- 1. Etymology can only ask why a small cuplike guard used in sewing is called a thimble , though it is put on the third finger .
- 2. In he hopped , and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman 's thimble .
- 3. I think I 'll be the thimble .
- 4. You misplace or accidentally contaminate a tiny drop of liquid while pipetting into a tube that 's smaller than a thimble , and your experiment fails .
- 5. The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family .