purlicue means The space between one's forefinger and thumb. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 81 out of 100.
Why this word is great
PURLICUE — [Noun] The small, pliant expanse of skin bridging the extended thumb and forefinger. Its etymology is of uncertain origin; possibly from Scots pirlie ("curly") or related to pirl/purl ("to twist, whirl"), but no definitive root is established. Unlike the clinical "interdigital" (which coldly denotes any space between digits) or the zoological "web" (which evokes the broad, functional membranes of amphibians), purlicue names a specific human intimacy. It is the taut cradle felt when poised to snap your fingers, the vulnerable hollow that catches stray pencil graphite, and the precise fulcrum of a pinch—a silent hinge where intention gathers before becoming gesture, the empty loom where every human act begins.
noun
- The space between one's forefinger and thumb.“Last night I licked a man's hand in
Evangelo's. I slid my tongue
along the ridge of flesh that forms the purlicue,
that bridge that connects thumb to forefinger,
to make it receptive for salt.”