thumbikins

T1H4U1M3B3I1K5I1N1S1

noun

An instrument of torture for compressing the thumb; a thumbkin or thumbscrew.

Scrabble 21
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Meanings

thumbikins1

nounthumbikins (plural thumbikins)

alternative thumbikin

  1. An instrument of torture for compressing the thumb; a thumbkin or thumbscrew.

    [S]end me that hag hither; she shall avouch what it was that she hath given to the wretch Dryfesdale, or the pilniewinks and thumbikins shall wrench it out of her finger-joints.

    1820, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in The Abbot. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, pages 173–174

thumbikins2

noun
  1. pluralplural of thumbikin

Origin

thumbikins · noun

From thumb + -ikin + -s. Compare bootikin.

Full word history & related roots →

thumbikins · noun

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

thumbikins. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thumbikins

MLA

“thumbikins.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thumbikins. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thumbikins,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thumbikins.

Source: thumbikins on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.