finger

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.

noun

1. (anatomy) 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.
   [M]aking a Cut here big enough to put her Finger in, which ſhe thruſts under the Guts, and with it rakes or tears out the Stone that lies neareſt to it. 1750, W[illiam] Ellis, The Country Housewife's Family Companion[…], London: James Hodges; B. Collins, →OCLC, page 157
   Each finger extended represents one-eighth of a cent. Thus when all four fingers and the thumb are extended, all being spread out from one another, it means five-eighths. 1916, “The Finger Talk of Chicago's Wheat-Pit”, in Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 89, p. 81
   In 1993 [Victor Candia] noticed that the fingers of his left hand were starting to curl up as he played [on his guitar]. It felt to him as if a magnet in his palm were preventing him from opening them. A week later, he could not play at all. 2014-03-29, “Don’t cramp my style”, in The Economist, volume 410, number 8880
2. (zoology) Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals
   1. The lower, smaller segment of an arthropod claw.
   2. One of the supporting structures of wings in birds, bats, etc. evolved from earlier toes or fingers.
   3. One of the slender bony structures before the pectoral fins of gurnards and sea robins (Triglidae).
3. Something similar in shape to the human finger
   1. (cooking) Finger-shaped pieces of food.
      chocolate fingers; fish fingers; cheese fingers
      By now, we hope you have said “no” to processed nuggets and fingers. Instead, how about taking some real chicken, tossing it with real eggs, a little tangy mustard, and a crunchy quinoa coating? 2014, Laurie David, The Family Cooks
   2. (chemistry) A tube extending from a sealed system, or sometimes into one in the case of a cold finger.
      An oven is placed over the finger with Co catalyst (oven temperature will depend on whether a quartz or Pyrex finger is used, see Ref. 24), and a cold finger (usually a copper rod immersed in dry ice–isopropanol slurry) is placed on the other tube. 1996, Susan Trumbore, Mass Spectrometry of Soils, page 318
   3. (UK regional, botany, usually in the plural, obsolete) Synonym of foxglove (D. purpurea).
4. Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body
   1. (botany) Various protruding plant structures, as a banana from its hand.
   2. (anatomy, obsolete) A lobe of the liver.
   3. (historical) The teeth parallel to the blade of a scythe, fitted to a wooden frame called a crade.
   4. The projections of a reaper or mower which similarly separate the stalks for cutting.
   5. (nautical) Clipping of finger pier: a shorter, narrower pier projecting from a larger dock.
   6. (aviation) Synonym of jet bridge: the narrow elevated walkway connecting a plane to an airport.
   7. (computing theory) A leaf in a finger tree data structure.
5. Something similar in function or agency to the human finger, (usually) with regard to touching, grasping, or pointing.
   1. (obsolete) Synonym of hand, the part of a clock pointing to the hour, minute, or second.
   2. (US, obsolete slang) A policeman or prison guard.
   3. (US, rare slang) An informer to the police, (especially) one who identifies a criminal during a lineup.
   4. (US, rare slang) A criminal who scouts for prospective victims and targets or who performs reconnaissance before a crime.
   5. (figurative) That which points; an indicator, as of guilt, blame, or suspicion.
      The finger of suspicion pointed clearly at the hotel manager.
6. (units of measure) Various units of measure based or notionally based on the adult human finger, particularly
   1. (historical) Synonym of digit">digit: former units of measure notionally based on its width but variously standardized, (especially) the English digit">digit of ¹⁄₁₆ foot (about 1.9 cm).
      a piece of steel three fingers thick 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick
   2. (historical) A unit of length notionally based on the length of an adult human's middle finger, standardized as 4½ inches (11.43 cm).
   3. (historical) Synonym of digit: ¹⁄₁₂ the observed diameter of the sun or moon, (especially) with regard to eclipses.
   4. (originally US) An informal measure of alcohol based on its height in a given glass compared to the width of the pourer's fingers while holding it.
      Gimme three fingers of bourbon.
7. (fashion) A part of a glove intended to cover a finger.
8. (informal, obsolete) Skill in the use of the fingers, as in playing upon a musical instrument.
   A performer capable of doing justice to rapid or expressive passages, is said to have a good finger 1786, Thomas Busby, Musical Dictionary
9. (informal, rare) Someone skilled in the use of their fingers, (especially) a pickpocket.
10. (UK slang) A person.
11. (especially in the phrase 'give someone the finger') An obscene or insulting gesture made by raising one's middle finger towards someone with the palm of one's hand facing inwards.
12. (radio) Any of the individual receivers used in a rake receiver to decode signal components.
13. (vulgar) The act of fingering, inserting a finger into someone's vagina or rectum for sexual pleasure.

verb

1. (transitive) To identify or point out; to blame for something.
   This makes it quite difficult to finger specific gene variants, since any one variant contributes only tiny effects. 2016, Joseph Henrich, chapter 6, in The Secret of Our Success[…], Princeton: Princeton University Press
   I'm rose-tinting my teenage years, for sure, but Twenge isn't the only generational-change researcher to finger the ubiquitous smartphone for contributing to higher rates of teen depression and anxiety. 2018 January, “Wild Things”, in North and South
2. (transitive) To report to or identify for the authorities; to inform on.
3. (transitive) To poke, probe, feel, or fondle with a finger or fingers.
   Alladad Khan, left alone, dandled unhandily his child in unfatherly arms. He wanted to finger his moustache, but could not. 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 121
   Feeling tender around the face, she fingered herself gingerly. Yes, it was swollen, very sore around the cheekbones, with dried blood on the outsides of her eye sockets, below her nostrils, and below one ear. 2009, Win Blevins, Dreams Beneath Your Feet, page 135
4. (transitive, sex) To use the fingers to penetrate or sexually stimulate one's own or another person's vulva, vagina, or anus.
   She fingered him, spreading the gel and sliding the tip of her finger inside him. 2007, Madeline Bastinado, A Talent for Surrender, page 201
   She smiled, a look of amazement on her face, as if thinking that maybe this was the cock that she had been fantasizing about just now, as she fingered herself to a massive, body-engulfing orgasm. 2008, Thomas Wainwright, editor, Erotic Tales, page 56
5. (transitive, music) To use specified finger positions in producing notes on a musical instrument.
6. (transitive, music) To provide instructions in written music as to which fingers are to be used to produce particular notes or passages.
7. (transitive, Internet) To query (a user's status) using the Finger protocol.
   There is also a hot-link to "finger" the guys at id to see what they're working on next (John Carmack, John Cash […] 1996, Marc Saltzman, Sean McFadden, Internet Games Directory, Lycos Press, page 29
   PGP mail welcome (finger me for my key). 1996, Yves Bellefeuille, “List of useful freeware”, in comp.archives.msdos.d (Usenet)
8. (obsolete) To steal; to purloin.
9. (transitive, obsolete) To execute, as any delicate work.