put one's finger on
11put one's finger in the dike — attempt to stem the advance of something undesirable Origin: from a story of a small Dutch boy who saved his community from a flood by placing his finger in a hole in a dike …
12put one's finger on — identify, point to …
13put one's finger on — Express, discern, identify (usu. a problem) exactly …
14lay\ one's\ finger\ on — • put one s finger on • lay one s finger on v. phr. To find exactly. The engineers couldn t put their fingers on the reason for the rocket s failure to orbit. We called in an electrician hoping he could put a finger on the cause of the short… …
15lay one's finger on — See: PUT ONE S FINGER ON …
16lay one's finger on — See: PUT ONE S FINGER ON …
17put\ one's\ hands\ on — • lay one s hands on • get one s hands on • put one s hands on v. phr. 1. To seize in order to punish or treat roughly. If I ever lay my hands on that boy he ll be sorry. Compare: lay a finger on 2. To get possession of. He was unable to lay his… …
18finger — ► NOUN 1) each of the four slender jointed parts attached to either hand (or five, if the thumb is included). 2) a measure of liquor in a glass, based on the breadth of a finger. 3) an object with the long, narrow shape of a finger. ► VERB 1)… …
19finger — [fiŋ′gər] n. [ME < OE, akin to Ger finger, Goth figgrs, prob. < IE base * penkwe, FIVE] 1. any of the five jointed parts projecting from the palm of the hand; esp., any of these other than the thumb 2. the part of a glove that covers one of …
20To turn around one's finger — Turn Turn (t[^u]rn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Turned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Turning}.] [OE. turnen, tournen, OF. tourner, torner, turner, F. tourner, LL. tornare, fr. L. tornare to turn in a lathe, to rounds off, fr. tornus a lathe, Gr. ? a turner s… …