thimbleful

English

Etymology

From thimble +‎ -ful.

Noun

thimbleful (plural thimblefuls or thimblesful)

1. As much as a thimble will hold.
2. (by extension) A small amount of liquid, especially alcoholic spirits.
   • 1988, Edmund White, chapter 4, in The Beautiful Room is Empty, New York: Vintage International, published 1994:

     “Just the tiniest thimbleful for me,” Annie said, overplaying it, I thought, since she lived on vodka.

Translations

as much as a thimble will hold

• Finnish: sormustimellinen
• Hungarian: gyűszűnyi (hu)
• Irish: lán méaracáin m
• Manx: lane mairane m
• Russian: напёрсток (ru) m (napjórstok)
• Spanish: dedal (es) m

a small amount of liquid, especially alcoholic spirits

• Finnish: fingerporillinen (fi)
• Russian: напёрсток (ru) m (napjórstok)