thumb through
Leaf through pages
To thumb through something is to flip through pages quickly and casually, scanning rather than reading carefully: She thumbed through a magazine while waiting.
The image is of using your thumb to riffle pages.
You might thumb through a book at a store, a stack of documents, or old photo albums.
The phrase suggests browsing without serious intent.
- flipQuick turning motion
- browseSurvey without intent
- skimPass over lightly
- leafPlant's photosynthetic organ
- pageNoble's young assistant
scan · quick glance · glance · magazine · coffee table book · paperback · worn · dog-eared · dog-eared copy · fingertip · rustle · bookstore · used bookstore · idle · idle hands · kill time · casual · spine
- readingfluency, read, comprehension, readers, books
- skim readingscan, glance, browse, speed read, gloss over
- reading actionsflip, skim, browse, scan, peruse
- searchsearch, web search, seek, text search, hunt
thumb throughstudy
Deliberate learning effort
pore over · read carefully · scrutinize · peruse · analyze
thumb, through, thumbs, thumbed, thumbing, thorough, thoroughly, thoroughness, thoroughfare