pricking of one's thumbs
pricking of one's thumbs an intuitive feeling, a foreboding, often with allusion to the words of the Second Witch in Shakespeare's Macbeth (1606) as Macbeth approaches, ‘By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.’
It was customary to fold the thumb into the palm of the hand as a precaution against the supernatural; Ovid's Fasti refers to a person pointing ‘with his closed fingers, and his thumb Put in the midst, lest ghosts should near him come.’
It was customary to fold the thumb into the palm of the hand as a precaution against the supernatural; Ovid's Fasti refers to a person pointing ‘with his closed fingers, and his thumb Put in the midst, lest ghosts should near him come.’
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kommen , come / kəm/ • v. (past came / kām/ ; past part. come ) [intr.] 1. move or travel toward or into a place thought of as near or familiar to the speaker… approach , ap·proach / əˈprōch/ • v. [tr.] 1. come near or nearer to (someone or something) in distance: the train approached the main line | [intr.] she hadn't… Phut , put / poŏt/ • v. (put·ting ; past put ) [tr.] 1. move to or place in a particular position: Harry put down his cup I put my hand out toward her watch… Near , near / ni(ə)r/ • adv. 1. at or to a short distance away; nearby: a bomb exploding somewhere near | [comparative] she took a step nearer. 2. a short t… Hampton Court (Richmond upon Thames England) , hand / hand/ • n. 1. the end part of a person's arm beyond the wrist, including the palm, fingers, and thumb: she placed the money on the palm of her… coming , coming •charming, disarming •Fleming, lemming •Deeming, scheming, steaming •trimming • timing • heartwarming •house-warming •coaming, gloaming, homin…
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pricking of one's thumbs