I.nounCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be caught with your hands/fingers in the till (=to be caught stealing from your employer)
click your fingers (=make a short sound with your fingers to get someone's attention)
▪ She clicks her fingers and he comes running.
drummed...fingers
▪ Lisa drummed her fingers impatiently on the table.
finger bowl
finger nail (also fingernail)
▪ She had small hands with polished finger nails.
fish finger
glove/hand/finger puppet
index finger
jabbed...finger
▪ When I didn’t respond, he jabbed a finger at me.
little finger
middle finger
mind your head/fingers etc
▪ Mind your head – the ceiling’s a bit low.
outstretched arms/hands/fingers
▪ She ran to meet them with outstretched arms.
point the finger of blame at sb (=say that someone is responsible for something bad)
▪ I couldn’t believe it when they started pointing the finger of blame at me.
pointed...finger
▪ He stood up and pointed his finger at me.
point...finger of blame
▪ I don’t want to point a finger of blame at anyone.
prick yourself/prick your finger (=accidentally make a hole in your skin)
▪ She had pricked her finger on a rose thorn.
ring finger
run your fingers through sb’s hair (=touch someone’s hair in a loving way)
▪ He ran his fingers through her smooth silky hair.
slender legs/arms/fingers etc
wagging...finger
▪ ‘You naughty girl!’ Mom said, wagging her finger at me.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
little
▪ In other places such as the street I make short dabbing strokes with my little finger.
▪ They fidget, sit on their feet and fold little fingers around stubby pencils, sweating out an exercise in mathematics.
▪ I thought your flat feet were firmly on the ground and your grubby little fingers always ready to grab the golden egg.
▪ The last thing he did was bite off the little finger of her left hand.
▪ She dug the nail of her little finger deeply in behind the left ear.
▪ Before long, Jennifer has Carlos wrapped around her little finger.
▪ I use it on my little finger and my fingers are real thin.
▪ I gave a little finger wave and he waved back.
long
▪ He smiles a satisfied smile and takes his long fingers and grazes them softly over my braids.
▪ Its long fingers curled in agony, then relaxed.
▪ She reached to enfold his long fingers, which were so fragrant from the soaps he still used, and overused.
▪ An array of long thin fingers of salty water descends, interspersed with a similar array of rising fresh water.
▪ Harding gathers the dice up with his long fingers, feeling the smooth surfaces with his thumb as if he was blind.
▪ Rubberneck chewed his fingernails; they were long bony fingers, bitten to the quick.
▪ He gestures too much with his long arms and fingers.
middle
▪ I was squealing with delight at the tricks his middle finger was playing when suddenly Captain leapt on us growling.
▪ Torn webbing between his right ring and middle fingers and a torn knee cartilage in 1992.
▪ Pausing at the door he turned once more and extended the middle finger of his right hand towards the bed.
▪ The hand withdrew, three middle fingers slathered.
▪ You will often see recipients tapping the table with the three middle fingers of one hand while their cup is being filled.
▪ The middle finger traced a heart on her lips.
▪ When the Reclusiarch passed back again, each initiate must hold out his middle finger, pointing stiffly forward from his fist.
slender
▪ She ticks them off, one by one, on her long slender fingers.
▪ Idly she traced the pattern of the marble-topped table with a slender finger.
▪ Lissa's slender fingers curled into fists at her sides.
▪ She returned to the letter in her hand, turning it over in her slender fingers before opening it.
▪ Long slender fingers, wedding ring, and a huge ruby on another ring.
▪ She admired his hands, seeing the slender curled fingers and pink palms as if for the first time.
▪ It was a small hand, with slender, tapering fingers.
■ NOUN
index
▪ Carolyn took it quickly and inserted her index finger under one of the flaps of folded-over, Sellotaped paper.
▪ Yo mumbles to herself at the windows outlining her hairline with a contemplative index finger.
▪ Roll your index finger evenly from left to right on the ink-pad, then again on the paper.
▪ I glanced up,-keeping my place in the text with an index finger.
▪ Indeed, he kept them closed as he opened the Gospels, and planted his long index finger blindly upon the page.
▪ Using your thumb and index finger, remove soft, new green shoots to just above the set of leaves.
▪ Using your index finger, make numerous indentations into dough.
▪ He beckons to Fifi with his index finger crooked.
ring
▪ According to Winston, men generally have a longer ring finger than index finger.
▪ Dunne has a dislocated ring finger on his right hand.
▪ So, do tomboyish girls, and footballers have very long ring fingers?
▪ In November 1991, Jones suffered ligament and joint damage to his left ring finger in a dirt-bike accident.
■ VERB
catch
▪ I saw one lying under the dresser and pulled it out gingerly lest the spur catch my finger.
▪ Record numbers are being caught with fingers in the till - like ex-Mirror chief Robert Maxwell.
▪ He had trouble finding them and managed to catch his finger in a filing cabinet.
click
▪ Then he turned and clicked his fingers.
▪ He clicked his fingers for Nosey to follow him, then rode northwards in the dusk.
▪ At last Fitzosbert stopped at one cell door and clicked his fingers.
▪ His face set, he raised a hand and clicked his fingers.
▪ He clicked his fingers and the Zippo came alive in his hand.
▪ Expected to jump to it just because you click your fingers!
count
▪ You can count on the fingers of one hand the times Mr Kinnock has jumped in among the public.
▪ She counts on her fingers, like a baby.
▪ Mr. Vaz Well, perhaps we can count them on the fingers of one hand.
▪ One day, Mom noticed him counting on his fingers under the desk.
▪ The number of people whom they knew personally in Berlin could have been counted on the fingers of one hand.
▪ Gao Yang counted seven old fingers buried in the steamed bun, which had long since given up its original shape.
▪ The latter can, declares S E Finer with pardonable exaggeration, be counted on one's fingers and toes.
▪ Sounds as if they were counting on their fingers!
cross
▪ Scientists and engineers have buttoned their lip, and crossed their fingers that the reckoning wouldn't come in their own day.
▪ At this point, they can only stand back, cross their fingers and hope for fireworks.
▪ As the others crossed their fingers and held their breath, he gently eased away the back plate.
▪ Careta held up a hand and crossed his fingers.
▪ Always ready to knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder, bite my tongue, cross my fingers.
▪ She took a deep breath, and crossed her fingers.
cut
▪ The burr will prevent a proper fitting being made and can also cut your fingers.
▪ Still, what if one of them fell, cut a finger, banged a head?
▪ He'd cut my fingers off if I used it.
▪ In early December, Aesop cut his finger opening a can of cling peaches.
▪ The rough metal edge cut into his finger tip.
▪ It never broke cleanly but flaked apart into strands that cut their fingers if they weren't careful.
▪ Keep a packet of pitta bread in the freezer, heat up under the grill from frozen and cut into fingers.
drum
▪ Harrison drummed his fingers impatiently against the surface of the table.
▪ Bowman drummed his fingers on the console.
▪ He drums his fingers on the chairback as he passes.
▪ Mulcahey drummed his fingers on the table, tat-tat, tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat-tat.
▪ I drummed my fingers on the desktop.
▪ She drummed her fingers on her knees, and turned back to the news.
▪ Herr Nordern gulped his beer and drummed his fingers on the table.
feel
▪ She felt his fingers spring away again, relieved.
▪ I felt her bony finger on my shoulder.
▪ Stephen felt Weir's fingers digging into the flesh between his ribs.
▪ I felt his fingers wrapping around mine.
▪ I can feel the fingers spread out now, stroking me.
▪ Primo could feel his fingers losing hold of the on / off switch of his intake valve.
▪ She could feel his fingers tracing the curve of her neck.
▪ He could feel in his finger the pressure of the trigger coiling.
hold
▪ The men stood motionless as Weir held his finger to his lips.
▪ Some people held up three fingers, signifying Earnhardt's car number.
▪ Suddenly she giggled and I realised I was still holding her fingers.
▪ I hold my finger in front of her nose; still she does not blink.
▪ In his mind's eye, Vologsky could see Major Tzann seated at his desk, holding it between trembling fingers.
▪ I held her between my fingers.
▪ One hand clutches a walking stick; the other tenderly holds the thinner fingers of his wife.
jab
▪ He jabs his finger to slam home his message and he is happy to press flesh and kiss babies.
▪ Thresher jabbed his finger at Thomas, accusing her of calling his 14-year-old daughter without permission.
▪ I jab a finger forward and Lucker nods in big up and down sweeps.
keep
▪ When an animal that has no horns is named, everyone keeps their fingers down.
▪ The whole show, Dominic says, is about keeping your finger on the button.
▪ It is the way they keep their finger on the pulse and keep in touch with their audience.
▪ Meanwhile, supply sergeants throughout the battalion were keeping their fingers crossed.
▪ There is little danger from a Lionfish to yourself, so long as you keep your fingers clear of the venomous spines.
▪ People have kept their fingers crossed and made do.
▪ When you're reading a speech ordinarily you have either to keep your finger on the spot or find it again.
▪ To find Dornoch you just kept sliding your finger up the well-defined northeastern coast until you crossed the Dornoch Firth.
lay
▪ The odds are that the young man would not have laid a finger on her, but what if ...?
▪ Then she lay a finger on my lips and slid out of bed like a dancer, one leg extended.
▪ He wouldn't dare lay a finger on any of us.
▪ Had Clyde laid a finger on Jake, he would have drawn back a stub.
▪ How could any man want to lay a finger on her, never mind father her children?
▪ Jasper laid a finger to his lips and tried the cloakroom door.
▪ My dad always brought me up saying you never lay a finger on a woman, never ever.
▪ Fran's gone to make sure no one lays a finger on a brother, that's what it is.
let
▪ Saucy Cecil Parkinson lets his fingers do the talking about the one that got away.
▪ With computers you can write quickly, letting your fingers fly from key to key.
▪ She sighed and let her fingers move slowly down the dark, smooth surface of the glass.
▪ With Arsenal and Liverpoolthe next 2 games lets keep our fingers crossed.
▪ She closed her eyes and let her fingers burrow through the tissue paper until she felt the lace of the collar.
▪ Some one, after all, has to play scapegoat. Let your fingers do the talking Got the message?
▪ Slowly let your fingers unfurl and let the barbell roll down to your fingertips.
▪ He let his fingers drift gently over the ridges.
lick
▪ Having finished her bag of chips, Buzz licked her fingers, switched the light on, and prepared for bed.
▪ He licked his finger, which was wet.
▪ Jan licked sherry from her finger and leaned toward me.
▪ I licked a finger and rubbed it on the stone.
▪ Nanny licked a finger and held it up to the wind.
▪ Henry licked his finger, then rubbed it against his trouser leg.
▪ Léonie licked Thérèse's fingers to see if they tasted the same as her own.
▪ Sorrel rubbed against my palm and licked my fingers.
lift
▪ But once the women returned, the men weren't prepared to lift a finger to help.
▪ Actually, the crunch did come, and the liberals never lifted a finger to save us.
▪ I never lift a finger more.
▪ King Charles did not lift a finger to save her.
▪ Now, without lifting a finger to assist, he gets a wonderful biography.
▪ As if Otto had lifted a finger during her long months of planning!
▪ All without lifting a finger or taking your eyes off the traffic for one moment.
▪ The crowd cheered when the roof fell in, while firemen lifted no finger or hose through it all.
move
▪ I begged him to - and he moved his finger!
▪ Still, you never know when the moving finger might tap you on the shoulder.
▪ Feeling drugged and quite incredibly wanton, she moved her fingers to his jaw.
▪ Then she moved her finger along the number line, counting by ones.
▪ Even her hands were touching something pleasant - silky, soft; she moved her fingers luxuriously, then slowly consciousness returned.
▪ She moved her fingers delicately as if caressing the wind.
▪ He did not move his fingers a millimetre.
point
▪ Briefly, if the referee points his fingers this indicates that some one had done something wrong.
▪ Similarly, the army, when faced with a budget cut, never points the finger at desk-bound lieutenant colonels.
▪ And there was also the matter of the anonymous phone call, pointing the finger squarely at Amanda.
▪ If we start pointing fingers, bad things start getting in the newspapers and everyone gets mad.
▪ As soon as I finished the drink, various players started to point their fingers at me again.
▪ Coverage of the Henan scandal also points the finger at inaction by the provincial authorities.
▪ And he pointed the finger at a couple of his team mates.
▪ When a child is learning to read, he will point with his finger to the word on which he is concentrating.
prick
▪ Matters were not helped by Maeve occasionally pricking her finger with the needle, but at last she had had her say.
▪ The coarse fibers of the rope pricked her fingers.
▪ The princess tried the spindle, but pricked her finger.
pull
▪ So, come on shoe companies, pull your finger out, deliver the goods you advertise.
▪ It would be a magnet, like Victor said, pulling at my fingers and the palm of my hand.
▪ Start below the lowest knuckle and pull along each finger and thumb with your other thumb and index finger.
▪ Then he would try to deceive me: he would show me my nose which he had pulled off with his fingers.
raise
▪ I raised the fingers of one hand, and slowly I folded them into the palm.
▪ He starts to speak and she raises her finger to her lips.
▪ The bails remained on, but umpire Chris King raised his finger, indicating Border had got bat to ball.
▪ She raised a finger to her nose and blew air through the free nostril.
▪ Stephen pushed him away and raised his finger to his lips.
▪ Then she raised one finger in the air.
▪ Harold raised a finger, to indicate that they should listen.
▪ She looked over at Linda, deadpan, and raised two fingers.
run
▪ Lindsey found herself battling against an almost overwhelming and totally illogical desire to run her fingers through its neatness.
▪ Eliza wet her forefinger, gently lifted the mustache, and ran the finger underneath.
▪ Try running your finger along the side of the worm and you will find this out.
▪ Robbie had to fight down an impulse to reach out and run her fingers over the dark mat.
▪ I ran an experimental finger down between the stacks, being careful not to disturb the order.
▪ You can run your finger all the way to Glasgow.
▪ Then she ran her fingers ever so softly through his hair.
slip
▪ He slowly pulled the object toward him, careful not to let it slip from his fingers.
▪ I slipped my fingers through the loops and shook.
▪ He held it up, and let it slip between his fingers.
▪ I slipped my fingers into them, lifted out a few pieces and let them clink back into the can.
▪ It put him off his stroke and the chopper slipped, cutting his finger.
▪ Its grip consisted of brass knuckles, was a chain of rings through which Weary slipped his stubby fingers.
▪ Zen pushed on, understanding how Italo Baldoni must have felt when the young Miletti slipped through his fingers.
snap
▪ He relished the image, saw it clearly, felt the tendons on Carter's neck snapping under his fingers.
▪ I snapped my finger in front of his eyes, and a trance was broken.
▪ He snapped his fingers at the barmaid and ordered a brandy.
▪ The nurse snapped her fingers, and they sprang into motion.
▪ Five minutes into the First Act Dotty Blundell forgot her lines and snapped her fingers for a prompt.
▪ Zak was nodding his mop of curls beside me and had begun snapping his fingers rather fast.
▪ He gave a royal snort, either of disappointment or relief, and snapped his fingers for another round of wine.
▪ There is no genie to snap its fingers and whiplash me out of this world I am living in.
stick
▪ Masklin stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it around.
▪ You must have stuck your finger in there or something.
▪ I clenched out the light and stuck my fingers in my ears.
▪ You might have to press in material sticking out with your finger, without smearing the wood.
▪ It was so cold that it burnt her, so cold that it stuck to her fingers.
▪ Once the rope was removed, he rolled Gao Ma on to his back and again stuck a finger under his nose.
▪ It will be they who commit the most crime, it will be they who will stick two fingers up to conventional mores.
▪ George stuck out his index finger and raised his thumb.
touch
▪ Don't touch with your fingers after it is cleaned.
▪ Yet I had to touch it with my fingers to become convinced.
▪ With an unconscious sigh of her own, she touched her fingers to her cheek, just as he had done.
▪ Avoid transferring allergens to your eyes by touching them with your fingers or gloves.
▪ She touched Granny's fingers,-and they were as chilly as stone.
▪ I touched their fingers, but fell back to the ground.
▪ Bobo touched her crooked finger to her lips and then lowered her hand, palm upwards.
▪ We touch his bony fingers and hands, uncover his face and look at him.
wag
▪ He shouted and wagged his finger.
▪ She wags her finger at his thumb-sized back.
▪ The second man smiles, wags his index finger and picks up a copy of his company's annual report.
▪ Walking sticks and umbrellas menace me, wagging fingers harass my sleep.
▪ The man with the thin hair continued to shout and wag his finger.
▪ John wagged his finger at her.
▪ Doktor wagged a metronome finger at me.
▪ I wagged my finger at him, telling him that he had been extremely lucky.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
I/you can count sb/sth on (the fingers of) one hand
a snap of sb's fingers
▪ What else? exclaimed Papa with a snap of his fingers.
be all fingers and thumbs
▪ She was all fingers and thumbs - and worry.
burn your fingers/get your fingers burned
cross your fingers
▪ A memo said that doctors were told "with crossed fingers" that the company was doing safety studies.
▪ People vote, cross their fingers, and hope for the best.
▪ Always ready to knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder, bite my tongue, cross my fingers.
▪ As the others crossed their fingers and held their breath, he gently eased away the back plate.
▪ At this point, they can only stand back, cross their fingers and hope for fireworks.
▪ Careta held up a hand and crossed his fingers.
▪ Jessica skipped and prayed and crossed her fingers.
▪ Scientists and engineers have buttoned their lip, and crossed their fingers that the reckoning wouldn't come in their own day.
▪ This will pass, I told myself, crossing my fingers; everything passes.
have green fingers
▪ He had green fingers, my grandfather. He could grow anything.
▪ The flower show season is upon us, and whether you have a green thumb or not, you should take a look at your garden.
▪ Tonight these dames were going to have greener fingers than Percy Thrower.
▪ You really do have green fingers.
have sticky fingers
have your hands/fingers in the till
itchy fingers
▪ I tucked the money deep in my pocket, away from itchy fingers.
lay a hand/finger on sb
▪ He wouldn't dare lay a finger on any of us.
▪ I laid a hand on his hair.
▪ I lay a hand on his chest and felt him breathe, mile after mile through the Kentucky night.
▪ If she laid a hand on him, what could he do besides run for it?
▪ Some one laid a hand on me.
▪ Stuyvesant responded by laying hands on To bias Feake, who delivered the document, arresting and eventually banishing him.
▪ The odds are that the young man would not have laid a finger on her, but what if ...?
let sth slip (through your fingers)
▪ And on most of the occasions when they had been alone together he hadn't let a chance slip by.
▪ As an aside, the parties let it slip that the idea of a true playoff system had been scrapped.
▪ Attention creates the foreground of consciousness, letting the rest slip into peripheral awareness.
▪ Be careful lads not to let this one slip away!
▪ Colin, on the other hand, became discouraged and let things slip.
▪ He held it up, and let it slip between his fingers.
▪ The Celtics let this one slip away slowly, painfully and needlessly.
▪ Wrapped up with visions of kissing Deborah, I had ignored his bedtime rituals and let him slip away.
not lift a finger (to do sth)
▪ King Charles did not lift a finger to save her.
▪ The Government are not lifting a finger to help the economy of Renfrewshire.
point the/a finger at sb
▪ After much speculation we all started to point the finger at Dawn.
▪ Each time there is a suicide bomb or attack we should point a finger at ourselves?
▪ It needed to point a finger at Simpson, the manufacturer.
▪ Now the computer's resources are to be used to help point the finger at the possible killer of James Bulger.
▪ The recreationists point the finger at developers.
▪ There shall not need anyone but myself to point the finger at me.
▪ To minimise his sentence, Boesky pointed the finger at people he had dealt with.
▪ Why did no one point a finger at a man for yielding to his desires?
rake your fingers (through sth)
▪ He raked his fingers through fur the color of weak tea, brown, red, golden tint of gaslight.
▪ He raked his fingers through his hair and watched it spring back around his face in untidy tufts.
▪ He raked his fingers through his hair, as if debating what to say next, and she followed the movement.
snap your fingers
▪ He gave a royal snort, either of disappointment or relief, and snapped his fingers for another round of wine.
▪ One of the guys snaps his fingers, and the nearest workman veers in a sharp turn and sprints to his side.
▪ The nurse snapped her fingers, and they sprang into motion.
▪ Those riverbeds could snap an axle as crisply as the way that Zervos snapped his fingers when he danced.
▪ Those were the times when a hunter found out how good he was.. Granny snapped her fingers.
▪ When finished, each boy was to raise his hand and snap his fingers to be acknowledged.
▪ Zak snapped his fingers even faster and started humming.
▪ Zak was nodding his mop of curls beside me and had begun snapping his fingers rather fast.
work your fingers to the bone
▪ His mother had had a hard life - had worked her fingers to the bone bringing up six children.
▪ In those days we got up at 5 in the morning, and worked our fingers to the bone.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Fingers of flame spread in all directions.
▪ In the glass was a finger of pale gold wine.
▪ She ran a finger along the spine of the book.
▪ Ted anxiously tapped his fingers on the table.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But next instant, he came closer and his fingers cradled her face, the box in her hands keeping them apart.
▪ Don't get too much ink on your finger or the print will not be clear.
▪ She hung in the room, strong arms around her waist, strong fingers around her legs.
▪ She ran a sticky finger down the monthly balance-sheet, then checked the figures against the handwritten bank statement.
▪ The little finger of his right hand was cut off in a corn picker, 1931.
▪ Then the patient's arms are placed on a table in front of him with the hands flat and fingers spread open.
▪ Which meant that all of his fingers were presently occupied.
▪ Your fingers are the stars which do not touch themselves.
II.verbPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a snap of sb's fingers
▪ What else? exclaimed Papa with a snap of his fingers.
be all fingers and thumbs
▪ She was all fingers and thumbs - and worry.
have green fingers
▪ He had green fingers, my grandfather. He could grow anything.
▪ The flower show season is upon us, and whether you have a green thumb or not, you should take a look at your garden.
▪ Tonight these dames were going to have greener fingers than Percy Thrower.
▪ You really do have green fingers.
have sticky fingers
have your hands/fingers in the till
itchy fingers
▪ I tucked the money deep in my pocket, away from itchy fingers.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Casey was only fingered as the mastermind of the operation after he was dead.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But soon he relapsed into his dangerous black mood, fingering the razor-sharp edge of his knife, open in his pocket.
▪ Cold blackness grasped at him, fingering its way through his warm blood, just waiting its moment.
▪ She darted off straight after that, leaving Melanie fingering her cheek in surprise.
▪ The sermon he found surprisingly proper, but Adams was repelled to see poor wretches fingering their prayer beads.