suck out of one's thumb

verb

To make up, to fabricate, to pull out of one's ass.

OriginAfrikaans uit sy duim suig ← Dutch uit zijn duim zuigen →
First used mid 20th c.
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Meanings

verbsuck out of one's thumb (third-person singular simple present sucks out of one's thumb, present participle sucking out of one's thumb, simple past and past participle sucked out of one's thumb)

present singular third person sucks out of one's thumb · participle present sucking out of one's thumb · participle past sucked out of one's thumb · past sucked out of one's thumb

  1. South AfricainformaltransitiveTo make up, to fabricate, to pull out of one's ass.First known use mid 20th c.

    1956, Debates of the House of Assembly (Hansard), Vol. 90/91/92, page 2185. One cannot lay a charge, a charge which has simply been sucked out of one's thumb, and then say that the onus rests on the person against whom the charge has been made, to prove that it is not so.

Origin

  1. Dutchuit zijn duim zuigen
  2. Afrikaansuit sy duim suig
  3. Englishsuck out of one's thumb

Calque of Afrikaans uit sy duim suig, from Dutch uit zijn duim zuigen.

More words from Afrikaans, Dutch

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

suck out of one's thumb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suck%20out%20of%20one's%20thumb

MLA

“suck out of one's thumb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suck%20out%20of%20one's%20thumb. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “suck out of one's thumb,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suck%20out%20of%20one's%20thumb.

Source: suck out of one's thumb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.