thimble

American  

[thim-buhl] / ˈθɪm bəl /

noun

1. a small cap, usually of metal, worn over the fingertip to protect it when pushing a needle through cloth in sewing.

2. Mechanics. any of various similar devices or attachments.

3. Nautical. a metal ring with a concave groove on the outside, used to line the outside of a ring of rope forming an eye.

4. a sleeve of sheet metal passing through the wall of a chimney, for holding the end of a stovepipe or the like.

5. a thimble-shaped printing element with raised characters on the exterior: used in a type of electronic typewriter or computer printer thimbleprinter.

---

thimble British  

/ ˈθɪmbəl /

noun

1. a cap of metal, plastic, etc, used to protect the end of the finger when sewing

2. any small metal cap resembling this

3. nautical a loop of metal having a groove at its outer edge for a rope or cable, for lining the inside of an eye

4. short for thimbleful

---

Other Word Forms

• thimblelike adjective

Etymology

Origin of thimble

before 1000; Middle English thym ( b ) yl, Old English thȳmel; akin to Old Norse thumall thumb of a glove. See thumb, -le

Example Sentences

A piece of Fern’s called out societal expectations that a woman “unobtrusively gather up her thimble and, retiring into some out-of-the-way place, gradually scoop out her coffin with it.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026

Pixar’s “Wall-E” is mirrored in recent refuse-collecting robots, and wireless ear buds work much like the thimble radios in “Fahrenheit 451.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2024

Next to that, Charlotte's pudge paranoia is a thimble of that bone broth she forlornly sucks down in her quick weight-loss quest.

From Salon • Aug. 6, 2023

NIF drew headlines in 2022 when it produced more energy from the thimble than the lasers put in, a milestone relevant to civilian efforts to generate fusion power.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 20, 2023

It is a thimble with a dime for a lid.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck