"fingersmith" meaning in English

See fingersmith in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-us-fingersmith.oga Forms: fingersmiths [plural]
Etymology: From finger + smith. Etymology templates: {{af|en|finger|smith}} finger + smith Head templates: {{en-noun}} fingersmith (plural fingersmiths), {{tlb|en|slang|archaic|historical}} (slang, archaic, historical)
  1. pickpocket Tags: archaic, historical, slang Categories (topical): Crime
    Sense id: en-fingersmith-en-noun-r8gnhfBO Disambiguation of Crime: 91 9 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 48 52 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 50 50
  2. midwife Tags: archaic, historical, slang Categories (topical): Occupations
    Sense id: en-fingersmith-en-noun-KrH2-BCj Disambiguation of Occupations: 39 61 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 48 52 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 50 50
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: finger-smith

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "finger",
        "3": "smith"
      },
      "expansion": "finger + smith",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From finger + smith.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fingersmiths",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fingersmith (plural fingersmiths)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "slang",
        "3": "archaic",
        "4": "historical"
      },
      "expansion": "(slang, archaic, historical)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "91 9",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Crime",
          "orig": "en:Crime",
          "parents": [
            "Criminal law",
            "Society",
            "Law",
            "All topics",
            "Justice",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1977, Roald Dahl, The Hitch-Hiker, Atlantic Monthly:",
          "text": "\"What do you call yourself, then?\"\n\"Me? I'm a fingersmith. I'm a professional fingersmith.\" He spoke the words solemnly and proudly, as though he were telling me he was the President of the Royal College of Surgeons or the Archbishop of Canterbury.\n\"I've never heard that word before,\" I said. \"Did you invent it?\"\n\"Of course I didn't invent it,\" he replied. \"It's the name given to them who's risen to the very top of the profession. You've 'eard of a goldsmith and a silversmith, for instance. They're experts with gold and silver. I'm an expert with my fingers, so I'm a fingersmith.\"\n\"It must be an interesting job.\"\n\"It's a marvellous job,\" he answered. \"It's lovely.\"\n\"And that's why you go to the races?\"\n\"Race meetings is easy meat,\" he said. \"You just stand around after the race, watchin' for the lucky ones to queue up and draw their money. And when you see someone collectin' a big bundle of notes, you simply follows after 'im and 'elps yourself.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Sarah Waters, chapter 17, in Fingersmith, London: Virago, →ISBN, part 3, page 510:",
          "text": "Mr Ibbs was found to have handled stolen goods: he was sent to Pentonville. Of course, he knew many of the men in there, and might be supposed to have had an easy time among them—except that, here was a funny thing: the fingersmiths and cracksmen who had been so grateful to get an extra shilling from him on the outside, now quite turned against him; and I think his time was very miserable.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "pickpocket"
      ],
      "id": "en-fingersmith-en-noun-r8gnhfBO",
      "links": [
        [
          "pickpocket",
          "pickpocket"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "historical",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 61",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Occupations",
          "orig": "en:Occupations",
          "parents": [
            "People",
            "Work",
            "Human",
            "Human activity",
            "All topics",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "midwife"
      ],
      "id": "en-fingersmith-en-noun-KrH2-BCj",
      "links": [
        [
          "midwife",
          "midwife"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "historical",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-us-fingersmith.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/43/En-us-fingersmith.oga/En-us-fingersmith.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/En-us-fingersmith.oga"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "finger-smith"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fingersmith"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English archaic terms",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English historical terms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English slang",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:Crime",
    "en:Occupations"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "finger",
        "3": "smith"
      },
      "expansion": "finger + smith",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From finger + smith.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fingersmiths",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fingersmith (plural fingersmiths)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "slang",
        "3": "archaic",
        "4": "historical"
      },
      "expansion": "(slang, archaic, historical)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1977, Roald Dahl, The Hitch-Hiker, Atlantic Monthly:",
          "text": "\"What do you call yourself, then?\"\n\"Me? I'm a fingersmith. I'm a professional fingersmith.\" He spoke the words solemnly and proudly, as though he were telling me he was the President of the Royal College of Surgeons or the Archbishop of Canterbury.\n\"I've never heard that word before,\" I said. \"Did you invent it?\"\n\"Of course I didn't invent it,\" he replied. \"It's the name given to them who's risen to the very top of the profession. You've 'eard of a goldsmith and a silversmith, for instance. They're experts with gold and silver. I'm an expert with my fingers, so I'm a fingersmith.\"\n\"It must be an interesting job.\"\n\"It's a marvellous job,\" he answered. \"It's lovely.\"\n\"And that's why you go to the races?\"\n\"Race meetings is easy meat,\" he said. \"You just stand around after the race, watchin' for the lucky ones to queue up and draw their money. And when you see someone collectin' a big bundle of notes, you simply follows after 'im and 'elps yourself.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Sarah Waters, chapter 17, in Fingersmith, London: Virago, →ISBN, part 3, page 510:",
          "text": "Mr Ibbs was found to have handled stolen goods: he was sent to Pentonville. Of course, he knew many of the men in there, and might be supposed to have had an easy time among them—except that, here was a funny thing: the fingersmiths and cracksmen who had been so grateful to get an extra shilling from him on the outside, now quite turned against him; and I think his time was very miserable.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "pickpocket"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "pickpocket",
          "pickpocket"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "historical",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "midwife"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "midwife",
          "midwife"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "historical",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-us-fingersmith.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/43/En-us-fingersmith.oga/En-us-fingersmith.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/En-us-fingersmith.oga"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "finger-smith"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fingersmith"
}

Download raw JSONL data for fingersmith meaning in English (3.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (b941637 and 4230888). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.