Definition of "thimble"

thimble

/ˈθɪmb(ə)l/

noun
plural thimbles
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.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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, 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, […], pages 10–11
5. (technology) A ring- or tube-shaped component such as a ferrule.
verb
third-person singular simple present thimbles, present participle thimbling, simple past and past participle thimbled
1. (intransitive) To use a thimble (noun sense 1).
2. (intransitive, by extension) To sew.

Definition of "thimble"

thimble

noun

Quotations

Quotations

verb