thimble

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English thymbyll, thimel (“thimble”) [and other forms], from Old English þȳmel (“thimble, thumbstall; fingerstall”), then either: * from Old English þūma (“thumb”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”)) + -el (suffix forming agent nouns and the names of instruments); or * from Proto-Germanic *þūmilaz (“thumb-covering, thumb-sheath”), from *þūmô (“thumb”) (ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root mentioned above) + *-ilaz (suffix forming agent nouns). The English word is analysable as thumb + -le (suffix forming agent nouns), and is cognate with Dutch duimeling (“thumbstall”), German Däumling (“thumbstall”), German Low German Dümelke (“thumbstall”), Saterland Frisian Düümelke (“thumbstall”), Scots thummle, thumble (“thimble”). The verb is derived from the noun.

noun

1. (sewing) A pitted, now usually metal, cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, which is used in sewing to push the needle through material.
   She had worn a hole through her silver thimble, and wanted Owen to repair it. 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Artist of the Beautiful”, in Mosses from an Old Manse
2. As much as fills a thimble (sense 1); a thimbleful.
3. (also attributively) An object which resembles a thimble (sense 1) in shape or size.
   1. (games) A thimble or similar object used in thimblerig (“a game of skill which requires the bettor to guess under which of three thimbles or small cups a pea-sized object has been placed after the person operating the game rapidly rearranges them”).
   2. (technology) A socket in machinery shaped like a thimble.
4. (nautical) A metal ring which a cable or rope intended for attaching to other things is looped around as a protection against chafing.
   To relieve the stern in a measure from the great weight of the [diving-]bell, a short, strong mast was stepped in the usual place, and steeving forward; from its head to the head of the davit was a span, which set up with two thimbles [footnote: A sort of iron ring.] and a lanyard, and the whole was supported by a strong stay from the mast-head to the stern of the boat, and two shrouds on a side, leading forward. 1836, Thomas Dickinson, A Narrative of the Operations for the Recovery of the Public Stores and Treasure Sunk in H.M.S. Thetis, at Cape Frio, on the Coast of Brazil, on the 5th December, 1830.[…], London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, →OCLC, page 33
   The rope part is fitted with a thimble in one end, which is connected to the chain by means of a shackle; the other extremity is spliced around a heart, and goes with a laniard, as in the case of bobstays. The splice of the thimble and the heart should be served. 1849, John M‘Leod Murphy, W[illiam] N[icholson] Jeffers, Jun., “Part I. Spars and Rigging.”, in Nautical Routine and Stowage; with Short Rules in Navigation, New York, N.Y.: Henry Spear,[…], →OCLC, pages 10–11
5. (technology) A ring- or tube-shaped component such as a ferrule.

verb

1. (intransitive) To use a thimble (noun sense 1).
2. (intransitive, by extension) To sew.