all thumbs
Uncoordinated or clumsy with one's hands. My mother does beautiful calligraphy, but I'm all thumbs—I can barely hold the pen! Tom could never be a pianist—he's all thumbs. What were you thinking, letting John hold that priceless antique? You know he's all thumbs!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
all thumbs
Fig. very awkward and clumsy, especially with one's hands. Poor Bob can't play the piano at all. He's all thumbs. Mary is all thumbs when it comes to gardening.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
all thumbs
Physically awkward, especially with respect to the hands, as in When it comes to knitting, Mary is all thumbs. The notion of this idiom derives from a proverb in John Heywood's collection of 1546: "When he should get aught, each finger is a thumb."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
all thumbs
BRITISH, AMERICAN or all fingers and thumbs
BRITISHIf you are all thumbs or all fingers and thumbs, you do something in a very clumsy way. Can you open this? I'm all thumbs. When I came to give the baby a bath, I was all fingers and thumbs.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
all thumbs
Lacking physical coordination, skill, or grace; clumsy.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.