Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Resembling a finger in shape or appearance: Describes something that has a long, narrow, and often rounded form, similar to a human finger.
   • Having parts or projections that extend like fingers: Used to describe structures, especially in botany or anatomy, that are divided into slender, finger-like sections.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The coral had delicate, fingerlike branches.
  • The peninsula extended into the sea in a fingerlike projection.
  • The plant has fingerlike leaves that are very distinctive.

Advanced Usage

• Scientific/Technical Context: Commonly used in biology, geology, and anatomy to describe shapes.
  • The geologist pointed out the fingerlike lava flows from the ancient volcano.
  • An MRI showed a fingerlike extension of the tumor.

Variants and Related Words

• Digitate (adj): A more technical synonym, often used in botany to describe leaves or other parts that spread out from a central point like fingers from a hand.
  • The horse chestnut has digitate leaves.
• Digitiform (adj): A less common synonym with the same meaning (finger-shaped).

Synonyms

• Digitate
• Digitiform
• Finger-shaped

Antonyms

• Blunt
• Rounded (when implying a lack of distinct, narrow projections)
• Unbranched

Related Phrases/Idioms

(Note: "Fingerlike" itself is not typically used in idioms. The related noun "finger" is used in many idioms, but those are not direct explanations of the adjective "fingerlike".)

Adjective

1. resembling a finger
   • digitate leaves of the horse chestnut