lifted a finger
Did something small
To lift a finger is to make even minimal effort—almost always used in the negative.
Someone who didn't lift a finger to help contributed nothing at all.
The phrase emphasizes how little would have been required: He wouldn't lift a finger to save his own mother.
Sometimes appears as lift a hand.
- involveTo contain as part
- assistTo give support
- lend a handOffer assistance to someone
- interveneCome between opposing sides
- make an effortAttempt with intention
help · turn a blind eye · look the other way · sit on one's hands · participate · raise · aid · contribute · do one's part · pull one's weight · support · point · engage · attempt · avoidance · procrastination · dead weight · act
lifted a fingersat on one's hands
Chose inaction deliberately
stood by · twiddled one's thumbs · sat back · stayed put · couldn't be bothered
lifted a fingerturned a blind eye
Feigned unawareness deliberately
looked the other way · left someone hanging · abandoned · neglected · ignored
lifted a fingerapathy
Absence of feeling
indifference · disengagement · detachment · passivity · inertia
lift, lifted, lifting, lifts, lifter, lifters, uplift, uplifted, uplifting