thim·ble

(thĭm′bəl)

1. A hard, usually pitted cup worn for protection on the finger that pushes the needle in sewing.

2. Any of various tubular sockets or sleeves in machinery.

3. Nautical

a. A metal ring fitted in an eye of a sail to prevent chafing.

b. A metal ring around which a rope splice is passed.

[Middle English thimbil, alteration of Old English thȳmel, leather finger covering, from thūma, thumb; see teuə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

thimble

(ˈθɪmbəl)

1. (Knitting & Sewing) a cap of metal, plastic, etc, used to protect the end of the finger when sewing

2. (Mechanical Engineering) any small metal cap resembling this

3. (Nautical Terms) 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. (Units) short for thimbleful

[Old English thӯmel thumbstall, from thūma thumb]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

thim•ble

(ˈθɪm bəl)

n.

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

2. a metal ring with a concave groove on the outside, used to line the outside of a ring of rope to prevent chafing.

[before 1000; Middle English thym(b)yl, Old English thȳmel; see thumb, -le]

thim′ble•like`, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	thimble - as much as a thimble will hold thimbleful containerful - the quantity that a container will hold
	2.	thimble - a small metal cap to protect the finger while sewing; can be used as a small container cap - something serving as a cover or protection container - any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another)

Translations

كُشْتْبان، قِمْع الخِياطَه

náprstek

fingerbøl

Fingerhut

κάλτσα

dedal

dé à coudredoigt de gantchaussette

gyûszû

fingurbjörg

ditale bussola

antpirštis

uzpirkstenis

fingerbøl

náprstok

yüksük

顶针

thimble

[ˈθɪmbl] N

1. (Sew) → dedal m

2. (Naut) → guardacabo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

thimble

[ˈθɪmb^əl] n → dé m (à coudre)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

thimble

n → Fingerhut m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

thimble

[ˈθɪmbl] n → ditale m

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

thimble

(ˈθimbl) noun

a kind of metal or plastic capital to protect the finger and push the needle when sewing.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Luckily she was the mistress of a gold thimble, that had been presented to her by her grandmother, as her very last birth-day present.

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Whack comes the thimble, and the child snatches her claws out of the sugar-bowl without fooling around any.

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The paper had been sealed in several places with a thimble by way of seal; the very thimble, perhaps, that I had found in the captain's pocket.

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Never were hands more exquisite than hers, and it was a joy to look at them when she threaded her needle or adjusted her gold thimble to her taper middle finger as she sewed away on the little night-drawers or fashioned a bodice or a bib.

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I makes my pipes of old penny ink-bottles, ye see, deary--this is one--and I fits-in a mouthpiece, this way, and I takes my mixter out of this thimble with this little horn spoon; and so I fills, deary.

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Aunt Polly raised him by the usual handle -- his ear -- and cracked his head soundly with her thimble.

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She hit his head a thump with her thimble as we dodged by, and he let on to be whimpering as we struck for the stairs.

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This young man was the nephew of one of the Nob Hill magnates, who run the San Francisco Stock Exchange, much as more humble adventurers, in the corner of some public park at home, may be seen to perform the simple artifice of pea and thimble: for their own profit, that is to say, and the discouragement of public gambling.

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"She says she will do that to you, Wendy, every time I give you a thimble."

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Alice thought the whole thing very absurd, but they all looked so grave that she did not dare to laugh; and, as she could not think of anything to say, she simply bowed, and took the thimble, looking as solemn as she could.

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Then he pressed a last thimble on her sweet little mouth, and covered his face with his hands so that he might not see her go.

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Maggie began to think that Tom must be right about the gypsies; they must certainly be thieves, unless the man meant to return her thimble by and by.

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