finger

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One of the five digits of the hand, especially one other than the thumb.
2. n. The part of a glove designed to cover a finger.
3. n. Something, such as an oblong peninsula, that resembles one of the digits of the hand.
4. n. The length or width of a finger.
5. n. A degree of participation; a share: "seems almost sure to have a finger or two in crafting the final blueprint” ( George B. Merry).
6. n. An obscene gesture of defiance or derision made by pointing or jabbing the middle finger upward. Often used with the.
7. v. To touch with the fingers; handle. See Synonyms at touch.
8. v. Music To mark (a score) with indications of which fingers are to play the notes.
9. v. Music To play (an instrument) by using the fingers in a particular order or way.
10. v. Slang To inform on.
11. v. Slang To designate, especially as an intended victim.
12. v. To handle something with the fingers.
13. v. Music To use the fingers in playing an instrument.
14. idiom. have To hope for a successful or advantageous outcome.
15. idiom. lay (one's) To locate; find: We haven't been able to lay a finger on those photos.
16. idiom. put (one's) finger on To remember; recall: I know his name; I just can't put my finger on it.
17. idiom. twist To dominate utterly and effortlessly.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A digit of the fore limb; any one of the terminal or distal members of the hand; in a restricted sense, any digit of the hand except the innermost or thumb. In this restricted sense the fingers are commonly numbered from the forefinger as first to the little finger as fourth, but sometimes the thumb is counted as first.
2. n. Something like or likened to a finger, as a ray of a starfish; something resembling or serving the purpose of a finger; an index.
3. n. Specifically— In zoology, one of the two parts forming a chelate or forceps-joint, especially the smaller part, which hinges on the other.
4. n. In machinery, any small wood or metal projection on a machine, for parting materials or arresting motion, as the tooth of a rake, the gripper in printing-presses, or the wires of a stop-motion: as, the fingers of a harvester, in and between which the knives play.
5. n. A measure of length, a finger-breadth, commonly a natural finger-breadth. A finger of liquor is a quantity in a tumbler one natural finger-breadth deep. The shot in a gun was similarly measured upon the ramrod, and still is where muzzle-loaders are used. See finger-breadth.
6. n. A finger's length, commonly that of the middle finger.
7. n. In music, execution, especially on a keyed instrument; method of fingering: as, she has a good finger.
8. To touch with the fingers; handle: as, to finger money.
9. To toy or meddle with.
10. To touch or take thievishly; pilfer; filch; secure by manipulation with the fingers.
11. In music: To play, as an instrument requiring the use of individual fingers.
12. To play, as a particular passage involving a choice among different possible modes of execution. To indicate upon a piece of music, by means of figures, the mode of execution with the fingers to be used.
13. To do or perform with the fingers, as a delicate piece of work, etc.
14. To touch something with the fingers, as a musical instrument in playing it.
15. n. In a mechanical piano-player, a lever that strikes or depresses a key. See piano-player.
16. n. A projecting pin or rod, straight, or slightly curved; specifically, a projecting curved wire which carries an electric current into the clearance-volume of an internal-combustion motor, so that at the proper time a spark may pass between its tip and another terminal and fire the charge of explosive mixture. See internal-combustion engine, under engine.
17. n. In flax manuf., a small lot of fiber that has been treated at one operation in the scutching process.

Wiktionary

1. n. anatomy One of the long extremities of the hand, sometimes excluding the thumb.
2. n. A piece of food resembling such an extremity.
3. n. A walkway extending from a dock, an airport terminal, etc, used by passengers to board a waiting ship or aeroplane.
4. n. An amount of liquid, usually alcohol, in a glass, with the depth of a finger's length.
5. v. transitive To identify or point out. Ex.: put the finger on To report to or identify for the authorities, rat on, rat out, squeal on, tattle on, turn in, to finger.
6. v. transitive To poke or probe with a finger.
7. v. transitive To use the fingers to penetrate and sexually stimulate one's own or another person's vagina or anus.
8. v. transitive, music To use specified finger positions in producing notes on a musical instrument.
9. v. transitive, music To provide instructions in written music as to which fingers are to be used to produce particular notes or passages.
10. v. transitive, computing To query (a user's status) using the Finger protocol.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One of the five terminating members of the hand; a digit; esp., one of the four extremities of the hand, other than the thumb.
2. n. (Mech.) Anything that does the work of a finger; as, the pointer of a clock, watch, or other registering machine a small projecting rod, wire, or piece, which is brought into contact with an object to effect, direct, or restrain a motion.
3. n. The breadth of a finger, or the fourth part of the hand; a measure of nearly an inch; also, the length of finger, a measure in domestic use in the United States, of about four and a half inches or one eighth of a yard.
4. n. rare Skill in the use of the fingers, as in playing upon a musical instrument.
5. v. To touch with the fingers; to handle; to meddle with.
6. v. To touch lightly; to toy with.
7. v. To perform on an instrument of music.
8. v. To mark the notes of (a piece of music) so as to guide the fingers in playing.
9. v. To take thievishly; to pilfer; to purloin.
10. v. To execute, as any delicate work.
11. v. (Mus.) To use the fingers in playing on an instrument.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the length of breadth of a finger used as a linear measure
2. n. any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb)
3. v. indicate the fingering for the playing of musical scores for keyboard instruments
4. v. search for on the computer
5. v. feel or handle with the fingers
6. n. one of the parts of a glove that provides covering for a finger or thumb
7. v. examine by touch