Meaning & use
middle finger
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Meanings
nouncountable
The longest finger on a hand, between the index finger and the ring finger.
Grammar: Takes a plural and usually the or a possessive: her middle finger.
Patterns
- on the middle finger
She wore a silver ring on her middle finger.
He jammed his middle finger in the car door.
The doctor bandaged the cut on my middle finger.
nounusually singularinformaloffensive
A rude gesture made by holding up this finger to show anger or contempt.
Grammar: Usually with the: he gave the driver the middle finger.
Patterns
- give someone the middle finger
- flip the middle finger
A driver gave him the middle finger after the near miss.
Teachers explained that showing the middle finger is considered rude.
The player was fined for showing the middle finger to the crowd.
Word forms
| plural | middle fingers |
|---|
Common combinations
- give someone the middle finger
- He was suspended after he gave the referee the middle finger.
- raise the middle finger
- Do not raise the middle finger at a stranger.
- broken middle finger
- A broken middle finger took weeks to heal.
- ring on the middle finger
- She wears a ring on her middle finger.
- point with the middle finger
- In some cultures people avoid pointing with the middle finger.
Synonyms and how they differ
- long finger
- Long finger is a rare, descriptive term, while middle finger is the standard name.
- the finger
- The finger is an informal name for the rude gesture only, never for the body part.
- index finger
- The index finger is the one beside the thumb, so it is a different finger, not a synonym.
Word family
- finger noun
- one of the long parts of the hand
- fingertip noun
- the end of a finger
- fingernail noun
- the hard cover on the end of a finger
- finger verb
- to touch or handle with the fingers
Commonly confused: middle finger or ring finger?
middle finger vs ring finger
The ring finger is the one next to the little finger, where a wedding ring is often worn in many countries.
Practice
Which finger is the middle finger?
Choose one answer.
The middle finger is the longest and sits between the index and ring fingers. The finger next to the thumb is the index finger, and the shortest is the little finger.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “middle finger”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.