a. Apt to let things fall, or to let them slip away; not skillful in using the hands; slippery; careless.
Syn. -- bumbling, bungling, ham-fisted, ham-handed, handless, heavy-handed, left-handed. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. someone who drops things (especially one who cannot catch a ball); a person who is butter-fingered. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ AS. finger; akin to D. vinger, OS. & OHG. fingar, G. finger, Icel. fingr, Sw. & Dan. finger, Goth. figgrs; of unknown origin; perh. akin to E. fang. ] 1. One of the five terminating members of the hand; a digit; esp., one of the four extremities of the hand, other than the thumb. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything that does the work of a finger; as, the pointer of a clock, watch, or other registering machine; especially (Mech.) a small projecting rod, wire, or piece, which is brought into contact with an object to effect, direct, or restrain a motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

A piece of steel three fingers thick. Bp. Wilkins. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Skill in the use of the fingers, as in playing upon a musical instrument. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

She has a good finger. Busby. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ear finger, the little finger. --
Finger alphabet. See Dactylology. --
Finger bar, the horizontal bar, carrying slotted spikes, or fingers, through which the vibratory knives of mowing and reaping machines play. --
Finger board (Mus.), the part of a stringed instrument against which the fingers press the strings to vary the tone; the keyboard of a piano, organ, etc.; manual. --
Finger bowl
Finger glass, a bowl or glass to hold water for rinsing the fingers at table. --
Finger flower (Bot.), the foxglove. --
Finger grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Panicum sanguinale) with slender radiating spikes; common crab grass. See Crab grass, under Crab. --
Finger nut, a fly nut or thumb nut. --
Finger plate, a strip of metal, glass, etc., to protect a painted or polished door from finger marks. --
Finger post, a guide post bearing an index finger. --
Finger reading, reading printed in relief so as to be sensible to the touch; -- so made for the blind. --
Finger shell (Zool.), a marine shell (Pholas dactylus) resembling a finger in form. --
Finger sponge (Zool.), a sponge having finger-shaped lobes, or branches. --
Finger stall, a cover or shield for a finger. --
Finger steel, a steel instrument for whetting a currier's knife. [ 1913 Webster ]

To burn one's fingers. See under Burn. --
To have a finger in, to be concerned in. [ Colloq. ] --
To have at one's fingers' ends, to be thoroughly familiar with. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fingered p. pr. & vb. n. Fingering. ] 1. To touch with the fingers; to handle; to meddle with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let the papers lie;
You would be fingering them to anger me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To touch lightly; to toy with. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) (a) To perform on an instrument of music. (b) To mark the notes of (a piece of music) so as to guide the fingers in playing. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To take thievishly; to pilfer; to purloin. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To execute, as any delicate work. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Mus.) To use the fingers in playing on an instrument. Busby. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a guidepost resembling a hand with a pointing index finger.
Syn. -- fingerpost. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a bank of keys on a musical instrument.
Syn. -- piano keyboard, clavier. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. a narrow strip of wood on the neck of some stringed instruments (violin or cello or guitar etc) where the strings are held against the wood with the fingers. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the length or breadth of a finger used as a linear measure.
Syn. -- finger, finger's breadth, digit. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a close-fitting sheath worn at the end of a finger, for protection of the finger or to avoid soiling the object touched.
Syn. -- fingerstall, cot{ 3 }. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. 1. Having fingers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Having leaflets like fingers; digitate. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) Marked with figures designating which finger should be used for each note. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who fingers; a pilferer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act or process of handling or touching with the fingers. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mere sight and fingering of money. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The manner of using the fingers in playing or striking the keys of an instrument of music; movement or management of the fingers in playing on a musical instrument, in typewriting, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The marking of the notes of a piece of music to guide or regulate the action or use of the fingers. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Delicate work made with the fingers. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Finger + -ling. ] (Zool.) A young salmon. See Parr. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. & t. To paint{ 1 } with fingerpaint.
Syn. -- use fingerpaint. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A type of paint having the consistency of a thin paste or jelly, which is applied to a surface by dipping fingers into the paint and smearing the paint on the surface, usually in artistic patterns. It is used primarily by children. [ PJC ]

n. Creating pictures using finger paint. [ PJC ]

n. a guidepost resembling a hand with a pointing index finger.
Syn. -- fingerboard. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Finger + print. ] 1. an impression of the pattern of ridges on the skin of the last joint of a person's finger, left on a surface after a person has touched the surface. Fingerprints left by persons who have committed crimes are considered as reliable physical evidence linking an individual with a crime, because each person's fingerprints are distinctively different from those of others, allowing identification of a person with high confidence. [ PJC ]

2. a fingerprint{ 1 } made intentionally in ink on a paper form for the purpose of identification of the individual. [ PJC ]

3. any distinctive pattern of characteristics or properties of an object which can serve to identify that object; as, the distinctive fingerprint of eugenol in the mass spectrum allowed easy recognition of its presence in the sample. [ PJC ]

4. a smudge made by a (dirty) finger. [ wns=3 ]
Syn. -- fingermark. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. to take an impression of the fingerprints of (a person); as, to fingerprint applicants for a gun permit. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. The procedure of taking inked impressions of a person's fingerprints. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Basketball) A shot that rolls off the tips of the fingers into the basket. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. tall leafy European biennial or perennial (Digitalis purpurea) having spectacular clusters of large tubular pink-purple flowers; -- its leaves yield the drug digitalis and are poisonous to livestock.
Syn. -- common foxglove, fairy bell, fingerflower, Digitalis purpurea. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a sheath worn to protect a finger.
Syn. -- cot. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the end (tip) of a finger. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. (Bot.) See Cinquefoil. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A starfish with five rays, esp. Asterias rubens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The finger next to the thumb; the index finger. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. pl. (Bot.) The kidney vetch, Anthyllis vulneraria; called also lady's fingers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Cookery) A variety of small cake of about the dimensions of a finger. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A long, slender variety of the potato. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) One of the branchiae of the lobster. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Bot.) A tall coarse annual (Abelmoschus esculentus) of Old World tropics widely cultivated in southern U. S. and West Indies for its long mucilaginous green pods used as basis for soups and stews; it is sometimes placed in the genus Hibiscus. [ wns=1 ] different from lady's fingers
Syn. -- okra, gumbo, okra plant, Abelmoschus esculentus, Hibiscus esculentus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Dexterous in taking and conveying away; thievish; pilfering; addicted to petty thefts. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. same as light-fingered; thievish; pilfering.
Syn. -- light-fingered. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Having the fingers united by a web for a considerable part of their length. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ For wharfager. ] A man who owns, or has the care of, a wharf. [ 1913 Webster ]