thumbkin

English

Etymology

From thumb +‎ -kin.

Noun

thumbkin (plural thumbkins)

1. (historical) An instrument of torture for compressing the thumb; a thumbscrew.
2. (rare, childish) The thumb.
   • 1895, Margaret Naomi MacArthur, Kindergarten Review‎^[1], Finger Play, page 75:

     Thumbkin is the pusher.
     Pointer shows us where to go.
     Tall-man wears the thimble,
     And helps us all to sew.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “thumbkin”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)