thumbikins en · NOUN · etymology 1
Etymology
From thumb + -ikin + -s. Compare bootikin.
Meanings
-
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:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| thumbikin | alternative | lexicographic | |
| thumbikins | Number=Plur | lexicographic |