Thumbhole
noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A hole designed to receive a thumb.
"The paint set is the top-of-the-line model, the Extra-Fine Oil Artist’s Box with a 39-tube spectrum of colors, 6 different painting mediums, 10 brushes (5 sable and 5 hog bristle), palette knives and a palette (with old-fashioned thumbholes), all in a portable walnut box."
- 2 a finger hole made to fit the thumb (as in a bowling ball) wordnet
- 3 the hole in a woodwind that is closed and opened with the thumb wordnet
Verb
- 1 To cut thumbholes (for carrying) in the lids of boxes. transitive
Example
More examples"The paint set is the top-of-the-line model, the Extra-Fine Oil Artist’s Box with a 39-tube spectrum of colors, 6 different painting mediums, 10 brushes (5 sable and 5 hog bristle), palette knives and a palette (with old-fashioned thumbholes), all in a portable walnut box."
Etymology
From thumb + hole.
More for "thumbhole"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.