finger

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   any of the terminal members of the hand, sometimes excepting the thumb

   My fingers were long and thin.

2. 2
   verb

   feel or handle with the fingers

   finger the binding of the book

3. 3
   verb

   search for on the computer

   I fingered my boss and found that they are not logged on in the afternoons.

4. 4
   noun

   A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb.

   Humans have two hands and ten fingers. Each hand has one thumb and four fingers.

5. 5
   noun

   Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals, particularly

   The starfish eats with five fingers.

6. 6
   noun

   Something similar in shape to the human finger, particularly

   ...spires whose ‘silent finger points to Heaven’...

7. 7
   noun

   Something similar in shape to the human finger

   chocolate fingers; fish fingers; cheese fingers

8. 8
   noun

   Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body, particularly

   a finger of land; a finger of smoke

Etymology

PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English fynger, finger, from Old English finger (“finger”), from Proto-West Germanic *fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (“finger”), from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós, from *pénkʷe (“five”). Compare West Frisian finger, Low German/German Finger, Dutch vinger, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish finger; also Old Armenian հինգեր-որդ (hinger-ord, “fifth”). More at five.