finger n.
1. in senses of the shape.
(a) the penis.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Honest Whore Pt 1 III iii: I haue heard many honest wenches turne strumpets with a wet finger. |
(b) (orig. US) a measure of alcohol; thus three fingers of rye etc; abbr. to three (see cits. 1901 and 1914) [the width of a finger, measured against the side of the glass].
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Drunkard’s Looking Glass (1929) 67: A four-fingered bumper of his beloved Helicon. | |
 | Porter’s Spirit of the Times (N.Y.) 4 Oct. 73/1: We each took a first mate’s drink—i.e. three fingers [DA]. | |
| Sut Lovingood’s Yarns 33: I tuck me a four finger dost ove bumble-bee whiskey. | |
| Sazerac Lying Club 104: He made his allowance considerably in excess of the ‘three fingers’. | |
| Newport Journal 25 Feb. n.p.: Which is correct, spoonfuls or spoons-ful, uncle? Denver uncle Um er the fact is I dont know my boy. In Denver we dont use either, we say fingers [F&H]. | |
| ‘Prof. Vere De Blaw’ Little Bk of Western Verse 166: With four-fingers uv old Willer-rum concealed beneath his vest. | |
| Wolfville 135: Old Monte gets about four fingers of carnation onder his belt. | |
| De Omnibus 54: ’E [...] ordered two threes o’ rum, as cool as anythink. | |
| A Thief in the Night (1992) 384: Very well, very well, [...] one finger, if I must. | |
| Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (1955) 262: He served two ‘threes’ of gin instead of one. | |
| ‘Canada Kid’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 160: I picks me my bottle o’ my favourite rye, I pours four fingers, I takes a highball glass, I fishes up a bottle o’ sizz. | |
| Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang Oct. cover: All we need to complete the illusion is about three fingers ina wash-tub. | |
| Limey 89: He tipped another three fingers of whisky into his glass. | |
| ‘Goldfish’ in Red Wind (1946) 170: Sunset reached for the bottle, poured two fingers of Scotch. | |
| I’ll Say She Does! (1955) 66: I [...] finish off my rye an’ pour myself another four fingers. | |
| Fowlers End (2001) 195: He served himself as a butler serves himself—three and a half fingers deep. | |
| Among Thieves 118: He [...] poured some vermouth and about three fingers of gin over the ice cubes. | |
| Dead Butler Caper 61: She returned shortly with a bottle and poured three fingers into a plastic cup. | |
| Slow Boats to China (1983) 205: I cured his affliction with two fat fingers of gin. | |
| Golden Orange (1991) 36: Another six fingers of Spoon’s bar whiskey. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | (con. 1920s) Legs 182: He downed three fingers of moonshine. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Big Ask 52: Three fingers of whiskey remained in my medicinal bottle of Jameson’s. | |
| Old Scores [ebook] Swann poured himself three fingers and corked the bottle. |
2. an individual, esp. in authority.
(a) (Aus.) the manager or boss in a shearing shed.
| Worker (Sydney) 11 Sept. 1/1: His boss he gives some funny names, when he can’t hear the joke, He calls him ‘joint’ and ‘finger’, / and he sometimes calls him ‘bloke’. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Jan. 20/2: Some Western Queensland slang of my day: [...] in the shearing shed the boss was the ‘finger’. |
(b) (Aus.) an amusing person.
| Songs of a Sentimental Bloke gloss. 🌐 Finger – An eccentric or amusing person. | |
| West. Australian (Perth) 8 Oct. 10/4: Australian slang words [...] Finger: An eccentric and amusing person. |
(c) a person.
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Truth Perth 1 Oct. 4/7: The ‘finger’ who will get you / ‘On a string’ / Is a ‘josser’ who has likely / ‘Had a fling’; / His ‘skyrockets’ then are ‘stiff’ / And he hasn’t got a ‘spiff’ / And he wants to ask you if / You can ‘spring.’. | |
| Jonah 125: No old finger’s goin’ to bustle me, even if ’e’s your father. | |
| (con. 1910–20s) Hell’s Kitchen 118: Finger ... a person. | |
| Cheapjack 308: ‘When a Yiddisher finger gets caught napping like that, my boy,’ he said, ‘it’s time he got spliced.’. | |
| Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 4: Finger: Person. | |
| Und. Nights 107: A finger known as Harry the Thief. | |
| Guntz 20: All-of-a-sudden a finger I know comes up to me. | |
| Compleat Migrant 106: Finger: a clown or any amusing person. | |
| Dead Butler Caper 134: If some finger ’as been duffin’ yuh up – I don’t know who it is and I don’t give a monkies. |
(d) (N.Z.) one’s father; often ext. as old finger.
| Quick March (N.Z.) 11 July 15: I come home and the old finger hit the roof. |
(e) an unpopular person.
| DSUE (1984) 392/2: —1933. | |
| ‘Metropolitan Police Sl.’ in Scotland Yard (1972) 323: finger, a: a disagreeable person. |
3. in the context of police work [SE phr. point the finger at].
(a) a police informer.
| Ledger (Noblesville, IN) 14 Aug. 6/2: ‘Every other man here is an “ex-finger”?’. | |
| Vocab. Criminal Sl. 33: finger [...] An informer; an investigator for officers. Example: ‘He got the punk sneezed by mixing with a finger.’. | |
| Gay-cat 60: I’m a good gun. I’m no fingers or elbow or stool. I’m one o’ the good people. | |
| ‘Convicts’ Jargon’ in AS VI:6 438: finger, n. A police informer. | |
| Little Men, Big World 177: All I want’s the finger. That will satisfy me. | |
| Death of a Citizen 86: I’ve got a hunch she’s the finger. | |
| Airtight Willie and Me 121: I’m a police scientist and I sure she’s the finger. |
(b) a policeman.
| Tramping with Tramps 385: ‘Finger’ comes from the policeman’s supposed love of grabbing offenders. ‘They like to finger us,’ a hobo said to me. | |
| Life In Sing Sing 260: It was a clean get-away for mine but for a finger who loved me like a Tommy. | |
| Gay-cat 302: Fingers – policemen. From the policeman’s method of fingering and frisking the arrested hobo. | |
| Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 72: Finger.–A uniformed policeman, who enjoys ‘fingering’ or beating his prisoner, or who searches him before taking him into the station house, either in a search for weapons, or, which was not unusual in the past, to see what money he could thus obtain. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). | |
| et al. DAUL 69/1: Finger, n. 1. (Comparatively rare) A plainclothesman disguised as a member of the underworld. |
(c) an identification.
| Bodies are Dust (2019) [ebook] ‘Don’t let on I told you, or the finger’ll be on me in a minute’. | |
| Never Come Morning (1988) 126: So many fellas with army clips around, I guess I figured it’d be harder to catch a finger with a clip than without. | |
| et al. DAUL 69/1: Finger, n. [...] 4. The act of pointing out, naming, or revealing the whereabouts of one wanted by the police; formal identification of a suspect in the police line-up or court. ‘If it wasn’t for a finger, I’d never fall (be arrested) on this rap (charge).’. |
(d) (US und.) an arrest warrant.
| Jr. ‘Sticktown Nocturne’ in Baltimore Sun (MD) 12 Aug. A-1/3: He thinks the clancies got a finger on him [...] he has lived in a cap and in the shadow of the finger. |
4. (orig. US) usu. constr. with the, an obscene gesture of contempt created by extending the middle finger vertically while holding the others curled tight; esp. in phr. give someone the finger
| implied in give someone the finger | |
| One to Count Cadence (1987) 51: A gallant gesture: a big, fat finger to the world. | |
| Maledicta 1 (Summer) 15: Invitations of this kind are now commonly accompanied with a gesture meaning approximately the same thing, and known as The Finger, in which the middle finger is held up with the others curled below. | |
| Clandestine 300: I [. . .] tripped over an old man, naked from the waist up [...] He cursed me and feebly flipped me the finger. | |
| Shagadelically Speaking 51: finger, the, Insulting gesture in which an individual extends the middle digit on his or her hand and directs it toward another individual. | |
| All the Right Stuff 74: The guy who had thrown up gave the old man [...] the finger and left the room. |
5. in drug uses.
(a) (US drugs) a quantity of drugs smuggled into and carried within prison in a rubber finger.
| Opium Addiction in Chicago. | |
| ‘Lang. of the Und. Narcotic Addict’ Pt 2 in Lang. Und. (1981) 102/1: finger or finger of stuff. A rubber finger-stall or condom filled with narcotics and swallowed or concealed in the rectum. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). | |
| Narcotics Lingo and Lore 61: Finger of stuff – A finger of a rubber glove or, less frequently a rubber condom containing narcotics and concealed in a body cavity, as by swallowing or inserting into the rectum. | |
| Riot (1967) 21: ‘Must’ve been a finger job,’ the con said. | |
| Drugs from A to Z (1970). | |
| Riker’s 169: [T]obacco, drugs—I would always keep a couple of fingers. Most of the time, when I was out of my cell, it was inside me. |
(b) (US drugs) a finger-shaped piece of hashish.
| Drugs from A to Z (1970). |
(c) (S.Afr. drugs) a measure of marijuana sold ‘retail’.
![[SA]](/static/img/flags/sa.png "South Africa") | Bandiet 120: The bale would be broken up into about a dozen ‘arms’, each of which sold for as much as the original bale. Sometimes the ‘arms’ themselves were sub-divided into ‘fingers’ which would sell for as much as 25p. | |
| My Traitor’s Heart (1991) 70: You could buy zol on almost any roadside [...] A finger cost ten cents, an arm five rand, and it was very strong. | |
| Riker’s 175: A finger of weed was $25. |
(d) (US drugs) a marijuana cigarette.
| ONDCP Street Terms 9: Finger — Marijuana cigarette. |
6. (UK Und.) a thief.
| Signs of Crime 199: Right finger Clever thief. | |
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 68/2: fingers n. 1 a thief. |
7. (Aus.) the manual stimulation of the vagina and clitoris [finger v. (1)].
| Puberty Blues 23: He’d lead you outside for a pash on the front fence, or a ‘finger’ behind the Holden. | |
| Apples (2023) 104: It was so romantic Dan couldn’t help slipping me a finger. |
8. (N.Z. prison) a pornographic magazine.
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 68/2: fingers n. 2 a pornographic magazine. |
9. see finger and thumb n. (1)
10. see finger man n. (1)
Pertaining to police work
In compounds
(US Und.) an informer.
| Big Con 198: If you are known as a finger-egg for some dick, it gets around. |
see separate entry.
(US Und.) a fingerprint.
| Decade 317: He’s had his pan sprung by a sawbones and his finger maps etched out in acid – but it’s no dice. The Feds are on his tail. |
(US Und.) a criminal gang who have paid off the police; they may also inform on rival gangs.
| ‘Convicts’ Jargon’ in AS VI:6 438: finger-mob, n. A mob that works under police protection; usually these mobs inform police as to the doings of other mobs. | |
| Phrase & Word Origins 122: One definition of a finger is a policeman or police informer ; this is indicated in the term ‘finger-mob,’ a gang under police protection. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). | |
| et al. DAUL 69/2: Finger-mob. Any gang of thieves enjoying police protection by bribery or by supplying valuable information; thieves having the alzo or fix in. |
(N.Z. prison) a thief, thus as v. to steal.
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 68/2: fingers freddie n. a thief [...] fingers freddie v. to steal. |
In phrases
(US) to arrest.
| ‘Ten Carats of Lead’ in Black Mask Stories (2010) 223/2: You ain’t gonna lay the finger on the lads who did this job just by puttin’ the peep on the hockshops. |
1. (US) to betray, esp. to the police.
| Never Come Morning (1988) 76: He tried to figure whether she would put a finger on Bruno B. if she knew it meant involving him with a murder. | |
| Pimp 169: I was too pure in heart to put a finger on you. |
2. (also have the finger on) to work out, to identify.
| ‘Nevada Gas’ in Spanish Blood (1946) 165: I want a finger put on the bird that had me grabbed. | |
| Burden of Proof 132: I don’t ponce, but these people have the finger on me. A bit of post-puberty homosexuality and you’re lumbered with these pathetic jokers. | |
| Jones Men 199: Nobody can put a finger on anything else he coulda gotten him and his wife killed over. | |
| Brown’s Requiem 63: I knew it, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. | |
| Rivethead (1992) 106: Something was missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it. |
3. to identify someone; esp. as someone about to die.
| Jimmy Brockett 289: Ever since the quack had put a finger on me and told me to take things quietly I’ve had a lot more time to educate myself. |
1. to identify a target or possible victim.
| Day Book (Chicago) 23 Aug. 11/2: I’ll put you jo [sic] whether you can put the finger on him [...] or get tossed outa here on your sconce. | |
| Keys to Crookdom 47: The duty of the spotter is to ‘put the finger’ on a woman who has a rich purse. | |
| ‘The Snatching of Bookie Bob’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 119: Guys who are on the snatch [...] make a connection with some guy who can put the finger on the right party. | |
| High Sierra in Four Novels (1984) 388: If you’re putting the finger on me you’re going to be the first guy to hit the carpet. | |
| One Lonely Night 73: I wanted to be able to put the finger on them and put it on good. | |
| Guntz 200: I just bin around puttin’ the finger on a few geezers who owe the firm a few bob. | |
| Hazell Plays Solomon (1976) 90: How did you put the finger on him? | |
| (con. 1920s) Legs 62: We had the guy pegged for an asshole bandit and knew you’d put the finger on him when he started making passes. | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Salesman 193: I’ll know him when you point him out to me, sweat. That’s how I work. You put the finger on him. | |
| ‘Took’ Wire ser. 5 ep. 7 [TV script] Good snitch put the finger on an eyeball wit. |
2. to betray, to inform against.
| You Can’t Win (2000) 78: I’ll rot in jail before I put the finger on you. [Ibid.] 116: Most of them would put the old index finger on you or me in a minute. | |
| Rough Stuff 189: I was trying to figure out who had put the finger on me in the stick-up which went wrong. | |
| We Are the Public Enemies 8: The madam of a house of ill fame [...] put the finger on him. | |
| I, Mobster 22: Just like I couldn’t ever swear that somebody put the finger on me. | |
| Pimp 40: In the heat of the investigation my agent fell apart. She put the finger on me. | |
| No Beast So Fierce 180: One wife put the finger on her husband for a murder ten years after it happened. | |
| Beano Comic Library No. 176 51: We need a grass Gnasher [...] an informer, who can put the finger on Mr X. | |
| Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Finger. 2. To accuse, identify or inform upon. An abbreviated form of the original phrase ‘ to put the finger on’. |
3. to find, to track down.
| ‘Feature Snatch!’ Dan Turner - Hollywood Detective Feb. 🌐 My next move would be to put the finger on Duke Kinzer. Once I located him, I figured to clear up the mess. |
4. to murder.
| ‘The Ice Man Came’ in Thrilling Detective Winter 🌐 There’s the possibility that, that mob back East found Joe and sent a man to put the finger on him. |
5. (Aus. / US) to target or single out.
| ‘Dance of the Infidels’ in Lover Man 158: ‘Ain’t much shaking. The Man done put the finger on the kats and everybody’s layin’ low. My boy got busted’. | |
| Hustler 192: See, it’s not good to run down the streets. If you run, you’re puttin’ the finger on yourself. | |
| Canberra Times 8 Jan. 21: Assuming that the finger is put on you, or your department calls for volunteers, what should you do? |
Pertaining to genital stimulation
In compounds
(US black) a lesbian.
| Queens’ Vernacular 80: finger-artist (les sl) lesbian who masturbates her lover. | |
| The-House-of-Love.org ‘Lesbian Names’ 🌐 • femme • finger artist • fluff • fur-bumper. |
to stimulate the vagina with one’s fingers.
| (con. c.1970) Short Timers (1985) 13: You days of finger-banging ol’ Mary Jane Rottencrotch through her pretty pink panties are over. | |
| et al. Friendship and Social Relations in Children 301: A wide range of terms had homosexual or heterosexual connotations to these ‘children’ ‘bitehead' , ‘blow job’, ‘eat me out’, ‘fuckhead’, ‘finger bang’ [etc.]. | |
| Devils in the Sugar Shop 31: Did she go ask the lawn boy if he’d ever finger-banged a girl? | |
| Futureproof 111: Tom approached her after I was asleep the night before and she let him finger-bang her . |
the stimulation of a woman’s genitals with the fingers.
| Muscle for the Wing 189: The lovebirds had experimented with tongues and touches and fingerbanging. | |
| Sex 148: After giving her a few good minutes of double duty finger banging, pull your fingers out and give your index and middle finger a quick sniff. | |
| My Bride for Yours 33: His finger-banging was so potent and so unrelenting that Marilyn had to chew on her lower lip to keep from screaming out. | |
| Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] ‘[F]inger-banging that high-breasted Crane slut’. |
masturbation.
| ‘Minor Threats’ Yale Herald 4 Apr. 🌐 MT misses the days when Barnes would talk love around the Herald office... ‘Oh yeah? You won’t feel that way after I sex you both in the ass!’ ‘How about some finger-blasting?’ ‘You cum-dumpster!’. |
1. (US) in sadomasochism, the insertion of the fingers into the anus.
| personal ad, adult bookstore Lang. Sadomasochism (1989) 69: Slave, female, 29, bi, needs you discipline, finger doses (no ff), mild bondage. | |
| Mistress 2 in Murray & Murrell Lang. Sadomasochism (1989) 69: I love sex toys, vibrators, hot lips, long tongues, finger waves & enemas. |
2. (US prison) a rectal search.
| Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL) 7 Apr. 4/1: Prison Slang [...] Finger wave; Rectal search. |
see separate entries.
(US) a young woman who allows her vagina to be penetrated by fingers only.
| in Sweet Daddy 139: Real screw ball. Finger job. [...] No banging. |
the manual stimulation of the female genitals.
| ‘Penny Lane’ 🎵 Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes, / A four of fish and finger pie / In summer. | |
| (con. 1950s) Waiting for Sheila (1977) 120: Didn’t you do anything for her? No finger pie? | |
| Maledicta IV:2 (Winter) 197: Alternatively, she may like to […] allow someone else to fumble, feel or finger-fuck her. Girls go wild over finger pie. | |
| Death Minus Zero (1998) 178: Then he would know more about John Lennon, could quote some of the words to Janet when he wanted some finger pie. | |
| Adventures of Lucky Pierre: Directors’ Cut 210: —Now, for dessert, we have finger pie served with a bit of jam, hot ba-nanas with crushed nuts, and very rich cherry pud. |
see separate entries.
In phrases
of a man, to stimulate the female genitals.
| ‘Aurora’ in asstr.org 21 July 🌐 [W]e played a quick game of ‘hide the fingers’. |
Other uses
In phrases
(orig. US ) to make a manual gesture (the raised middle finger in the US, the V-sign in the UK) to imply derision and disdain; also in fig. use.
| [ | | St Louis Globe-Democrat 19 Jan. n.p.: He is told by his equally ‘busted’ companions to ‘stand him up,’ [i.e. a bartender] ‘give him the slip,’ ‘put up your educated forefinger at him’]. |
| Standard Dict. 682: Finger [...] To give one the f., To disappoint one after holding out hopes that his desires would be fulfilled, turn a cold shoulder to one. | |
| ‘Past One at Rooney’s’ in Strictly Business (1915) 258: If they got him before Corrigan came back, the big white finger could not be uplifted. | |
| What Makes Sammy Run? (1992) 84: Let me show you how to give that guy the finger. | |
| No Navel to Guide Him 72: moral: If you’re deaf and dumb, don’t talk out of turn or someone will give you the finger. | |
| ‘Johnny Slice’s Stoolie’ in Deadly Streets (1983) 82: Johnny gave two-fingers of hello to old man Gorman. | |
| Good Deeds Must Be Punished 119: He’s just giving you the finger. The old brush-off. | |
| Horseman, Pass By (1997) 96: They were too silly even to bother giving them the finger. | |
| City of Night 184: The [...] says I gave him the fuck-you finger. | |
| et al. CUSS 116: Finger [...] Finger, give the [...] Finger, make a [...] Finger, shoot the To gesture with the middle finger. | |
| (con. 1950s) Grease II v: He gave him ‘the finger!’. | |
| Blood Brothers 16: One of the girls shot them the finger. | |
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 235: do the finger Hold up the middle finger at the same time one bends down the other fingers in a gesture that means ‘fuck you.’. | |
| Fort Apache, The Bronx 12: ‘Sure, sure, go ahead and give me the finger,’ Connolly said with quiet anger. | |
| Patriot Game (1985) 185: He will never [...] give the finger to Mrs. Van Floot. | |
| Breaks 254: He dropped off the tire and shot a finger at me. | |
| It (1987) 352: ‘Sit on this, dear heart,’ Bev said, and whipped the finger on them. | |
| in Living Dangerously 190: I said, ‘You fucking cunt!’ and gave him the finger. | |
| Way Past Cool 21: A car rounded the corner. It honked at Curtis, and all the boys fingered it and bawled curses. | |
| Stormy Weather 267: She flipped him the finger as went through the door. | |
| Curvy Lovebox 87: I give him some horn an’ stick a finger at him. | |
| Lucky You 196: JoLayne congratulated herself for not flipping him the finger. | |
| Night Dogs 274: They cheered as the patrol car went past, giving them the finger. | |
| ‘Da Hustla’ 🎵 I’m like hip hop yall niggas is rap singers / and I hate yall you get the middle finger. | |
| Robbers (2001) 242: Ray Bob glanced over and shot them the finger. | |
| Observer Rev. 2 Apr. 6: You look across [...] wave at the pilot up there, and he gives you the finger... | |
| ‘Hot-Prowl Rape-O’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 299: Donna flipped her-him the finger. Get bent and butt out, Butch! | |
| Rubdown [ebook] He winked lewdly and laughed when I gave him the finger. | |
| Crooked Little Vein 204: [...] giving the finger to cabs and limos as she strode toward the short-stay parking lot. | |
| Jackson Sun (TN) 10 Sept. C2/1: Mel Brooks has given the finger to Hollywood. | |
| Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] He flipped it [i.e. a prison] the finger. | |
| Joe Country [ebook] She wished she’d been there, to see Emma give Taverner the finger. | |
| Empty Wigs (t/s) 802: [N]aked people jumping out the way giving us the finger. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
see separate entry.
a parson.
| , , | | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Finger post, a parson, so called, because like the finger post he points out a way he has never been, and probably will never go, i.e. the way to heaven. |
| Lex. Balatronicum. | |
| Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
| Worcs. Chron. 13 Oct. n.p.: A Parson Alias A Finger-Post. | |
| Pembs. Herald (Wales) 8 May 4/3: There is a whole sarcastic homily implied in calling a finger-post by the wayside a ‘parson,’ in that he showeth other men the way they should go, but goeth not himself. |
1. a midwife.
| Vocab. of the Flash Lang. | |
| Key to the Picture of the Fancy going to a Fight 28: [They] stand in a cart, to be out of the reach of the Finger-Smiths. | |
| Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
| Vocabula Amatoria (1966) 240: Sage-femme, f. A midwife; ‘a fingersmith’. | |
| Indianapolis Jrnl (IN) 28 Feb. 3/3: ‘Fingersmith’ is quite an ingenious term [for] a pickpocket. | |
| Dict. Service Sl. n.p.: a finger-smith . . . a midwife. |
2. a pickpocket; a thief.
| Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
| Yorks. Gaz. 4 May 6/5: Anderson proposed that [...] he (prisoner) should be the 'nailer' and he (witness) should be the 'finger-smith'. | |
| London Standard 20 Dec. 8/4: Perhaps you will allow me to warn jewellers [...] that a gong is no protection whatsoever against a 'finger-smith'. | |
| Jottings from Jail 4: The delicate expression ‘fingersmith’ as descriptive of a trade which a blunt world might call that of a pickpocket. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Aberdeen Jrnl 26 May 5/3: One man who operated as a 'fingersmith' alays carried a small fragment of coal in his pocket. It was his talisman. | |
| Und. Speaks. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). | |
| No Hiding Place! 190/1: Fingersmith. Pickpocket. | |
![[WI]](/static/img/flags/wi.png "West Indies") | Notes for Gloss. of Barbadian Dial. 48: Fingersmith. A facetious term for a thief. | |
| (con. late 19C) Gentle Giant 66: The scheme [...] would be ruined if the ‘fingersmith’ was to fall into the hands of such an obviously efficient peace officer. |
(UK Und./police) an anal examination for drugs.
| Lowspeak. |
In phrases
a phr. used to describe a thief.
| Metamorphosis of Ajax (1814) 65: A certain gentleman that had his fingers made of lime-twigs, stole a piece of plate one day from Claudius . | |
| Bibliotheca Scholastica Instructissima 203: His fingers are made of lime-twigs. | |
| Parœmiologia . | |
| Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. | |
| Northern Star 12 Nov. 7/5: Rotten, slimy things are they, whose fingers are lime-twigs [...] who scruple not to rob even the poor victims. | |
| Leamington Spa Courier 10 Dec. 4/5: The say of such an one: 'His fingers are lime twigs'. |
to stop dawdling or lazing about and begin some constructive activity.
| (con. 1944) Naked and Dead 471: You men better get your finger out of your ass. | |
| (con. 1941) Twenty Thousand Thieves 98: Yer gonna have yer finger out for the next day or two, I’m telling yer. | |
| Teachers (1962) 25: Glad they’ve got their finger out and lit the bloody fire. | |
| Confessions of Proinsias O’Toole 19: My God! Is that the time? I’ll have to get my finger out. | |
| ‘A Touch of Glass’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] Come on Rodders, get your finger out, we’ve got a long drive home. | |
| Godson 156: [H]e did have to keep his finger out to keep up [...] Peregrine was showing quite a bit of stamina. | |
| It (1987) 87: Well, get your thumb out of your ass and do something about it. | |
| Filth 319: I suggest you and your colleague here get your fingers out of your arseholes. | |
| Goodoo Goodoo 6: Whatever I call myself, I’d better get my finger out. | |
| Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress 19: She is going to have to get her finger out in a major way. |
to get into trouble.
| Ladies' Companion May 14/1: So much for marrying in a hurry— getting your fingers nipped, while you're trying to steal the bait. | |
| Eve. Teleg. (Dundee) 24 Jan. 3/5: Thanmks to [...] our police, a publican gets his fingers nipped for infringing our licensing laws. | |
| Jimmy Brockett 193: Will you get your fingers burnt? | |
| World of Paul Slickey Act I: If your words mean nothing, then your fingers won’t get burned. |
to idle, to loiter, to stand around doing nothing.
| (con. 1950s) Unit Pride (1981) 320: Don’t stand there with your finger up your ass all day long. | |
| (coll. J. Ball): Ever’ time I drop by, you lazy fuckers are sittin’ around with your fingers up your goddam asses [HDAS]. |
(US) assertion that the speaker is not naive, gullible.
| Stories Cops Only Tell Each Other 160: ‘I wasn’t made with a finger. [...] By the time most people are out of bed I’ve taken a shower, a shit, and a shave, walked the dog and had my breakfast. In other words, I’m no Joe-Schmoe’. |
getting drunk.
| Legends and Stories 187: Throwin’ up his little finger, I suppose?* *Getting drunk. | |
| Sl. and Its Analogues IV 183/1: To let the finger ride the thumb too often, verb. phr. (American). – To get drunk. |
(orig. Aus.) to get on with something, to stop malingering and commit oneself to positive action; esp. as command pull your finger out.
| Aussie (France) 12 Mar. 2/1: Tell the bloke who issues the prizes to pull his finger out. | |
| Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 28: Pull out your finger! Hurry up! | |
| For the Rest of Our Lives 20: Pull your finger out, man. | |
| Commander Brady 83: ‘Come on Torps – pull your finger out!’ rasped Seymour. | |
| (con. 1940s) Borstal Boy 282: Take your finger out of your arse-’ole. | |
| Fings II i: Horace, take yer finger out. | |
| Gun in My Hand 223: I’m going to pull my finger out now and make up for lost time. | |
| Owning Up (1974) 250: He has decided the time has come to ‘pull his finger out’. | |
| Current Sl. II:3 7: Pull it out, v. To get busy; to start to function, to ‘shape up’ (command). | |
| A Night at Green River 85: ‘Money up or shut up!’ he snarled; ‘come on, pull your finger out.’. | |
| Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 51: You’ll just have to get them to pull their finger out if they want the publishing coup of the decade. | |
| No Exceptions in Best Radio Plays (1984) 119: And who’s going to win it this year? Us? We might, if Roger Burge pulls his finger out 119. | |
| Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 88/2: pull finger command to hurry up; eg ‘Right, let’s pull finger and see if we can catch the fleet.’. | |
| Viz June/July 32: Come on – pull your finger out you daft old cow! | |
| Bug (Aus.) Apr. 🌐 Let’s hope there’s some club out there somewhere prepared to give him another chance if he promises to pull his finger out and keep it clean for the rest of his career. |
see under ass n.