Fist

“ All a poor fist can do to damage eyes proves vain!
My fist — why not crunch that? He is wanton for . . . O God,
Why give this wolf his taste? Common wolves scrape and prod
The earth till out they scratch some corpse — mere putrid flesh! ”

“ To wave the hand from us, the palm outward, is the gesture of repulsion, aversion, dismissal. To shake the fist at one signifies anger and defiance and threatening. The hands are clasped or wrung in deep sorrow, and outstretched with the palms inward to indicate welcoming, approving, and receiving. In shame, the hand is placed before the eyes; in earnestness and ardor, the hands reach forward; in joy, they are thrown up, widely apart; in exultation and triumph, the right hand is waved above the head. ”

“ Instead of arms, steel fingers had sunk into his throat. He lunged out with all his strength. His fist met something that, though it yielded slightly, brought a brutal twinge of pain across his knuckles. His fist shot out again, whipped to its mark with everything that was in him behind the blow; and it was the bruiser's face he hit. He hit it again, and, over the mad fury that was upon him, he knew an unholy joy as his blows crashed home. ”

“ But to man, a physical contest is a pastime and a joy. I love to see a fight with the bare fists, the combatants stripped naked to the buff, the long arms stretching out, the hard knuckles showing white under the brown skin of the fists, the muscles sliding and slipping like live eels under the flesh, the steady and quick glance of the eye, the soft thud of fist on flesh, the sharp snap of a blow on the jaw, and the final scene where one man drops to the ground while the other, bathed in blood and sweat, smiles in acknowledgment of the congratulations on the victory obtained. ”

“ What would those rice-eaters do in stemming the stormy blasts of a northern winter? I once saw a fight in the streets of London, of men with brawny arms, and fists that came with sledgehammer force upon each other! Some day, when I can get leisure, I am going to write an article on fists, and the people who can make them. There is so much of human character in a fist.
I never saw a native of India make up a fist for a fight. ”

“ Now which is best when you hate a person, or have a pique against a person, to clench your fist and say “Come on,” or to have recourse to the stone, the knife,—or murderous calumny? The use of the fist is almost lost in England. Yet are the people better than they were when they knew how to use their fists? The writer believes not. A fisty combat is at present a great rarity, but the use of the knife, the noose, and of poison, to say nothing of calumny, are of more frequent occurrence in England than perhaps in any country in Europe. ”

“ The ruffian had his hand raised to strike when something happened. A lithe, muscular form glided under the upraised fist, and the next moment there was a sharp crack as the newcomer's fist collided with the other's chin. ”

“ Still others playfully rapped their victim’s shins and head with their gun barrels, driving him at last to such desperation that when one particularly playful fellow pricked him suddenly from behind with a knife-point, he wheeled and with clenched fist sent the redskin sprawling among the leaves. ”

“ Experienced men said it was the heaviest blow they had ever seen struck with the human fist. It was delivered slightly downward, coolly, at measured distance, with change from left foot to right in the act of delivery, and with the uttermost strength of a most powerful athlete in perfect training—and Hate Incarnate lent the strength of madness to the strength of training and skill. ”

“ Blows with the fist should be given on the back of the woman, which she is sitting on the lap of the man, and she should give blows in return, abusing the man as if she were angry, and making the cooing and the weeping sounds. ”

“ Doubt, to express incredulity.—Bring the "V" hand up in front of the face with the fore and middle fingers bent toward the end of the nose and held as if about to straddle it; bend and unbend the fingers several times. VI, 107. Or,
(2) To express distrust or suspicion of one's intentions—Place the fist well out at the side, partly in front, with the elbow bent outward; throw the fist toward imaginary person, repeating the motion several times. ”

“ Fissure, fish′ūr, n. a narrow opening or chasm: a cleft, slit, or furrow: any groove or sulcus, esp. one of the furrows on the surface of the brain, as the longitudinal fissure separating the hemispheres.—adj. Fiss′ūred, cleft, divided. [Fr.,—L. fissūra, from findĕre, fissum, to cleave.]
Fist, fist, n. the closed or clenched hand.—v.t. to strike or grip with the fist.—n. Fistiā′na, anecdotes about boxing and boxers.—adj. Fist′ic (Dickens) , pugilistic.—ns. Fist′icuff, a blow with the fist: (pl.) boxing, blows; Fist′-law, the law of brute force.—adj. Fist′y. [A.S. fýst; Ger. faust.] ”

“ Disobey (defiance to authority) .—With elbow at side bend up the arm with the fist on a level with the shoulder; bring the elbow out and give a twist to the fist, slightly turning the head to indicate defiance. ”

“ Having got our attitude and doubled our fist, we now learn to strike. Deliver your blow straight and from the shoulder, not merely with the arm. Put all your body into the stroke, and aid it with the spring of the right foot against the ground. ”

“ Fighting with fists leads the way to fighting with weapons, though the rolled-up fist is used by the angry child as a weapon earlier than the open hand. In playful fighting, however, the blow with the fist is not much used. Sometimes a little playful boxing is indulged in, but it is difficult to keep within the bounds of play in a fisticuff. ”

“ Fig. 243.
Raise right hand, fingers extended, palm downward (W 1) , swing it around "over all," then point to the man, raise left fist (A 1, changed to left and palm inward) to a point in front of and near the body, close fingers of right hand and place the fist (A 2, palm inward) between left fist and body and then with violent movement throw it over left fist, as though breaking something, and stop at a point in front of and a little below left fist, and lastly point upward with right hand. (Sahaptin I.) "Of all here he is strongest." ”

“ Kill. Smite the sinister palm earthwards, with the dexter fist sharply, the sign of going down, or strike out with the dexter fist towards the ground, meaning to “shut down,” or pass the dexter index under the left forefinger, meaning to “go under.”
Some of the symbols of relationship are highly appropriate and not ungraceful or unpicturesque. Man is denoted by a sign which will not admit of description; woman by passing the hand down both sides of the head, as if smoothing or stroking the long hair. For a child, a bit of the index held between the antagonised thumb and medius is shown. ”

“ By accident they reach, the mouth, they are sucked; the child feels himself suck its own fist; he feels his fist being sucked. Some day it will occur to him that that fist belongs to the same being who owns the sucking mouth. But at this point, Miss Shinn [C] has observed, the baby is often surprised and indignant that he cannot move his arms around and at the same time suck his fist. ”

“ If this is done quickly, the fist is swung outward with force enough to strike quite a sharp blow, though, as you know, if you wish to hit really hard, you have to strike with the weight and muscles of the full arm and the body behind it, or, as we say, "from the shoulder." ”

“ He clenches his fist threateningly, stretches one finger after another into the air if he is counting something, stamps his foot if he is angry, and puts his finger to his head if he does not understand—in that he behaves as he would if his interlocutor were before him. ”

“ The fist is quick, immediate; but it is not conclusive enough; when the offence is at all grave, we see that it is really too lenient and ephemeral; and, besides, it has always movements that are a little vulgar and effects that are somewhat repugnant. It brings only a brutal faculty into play. ”

“ Both hands fists, backs outward, obliquely upward, near together, right inside of left, are moved forward from in front of the chest, two or three times and back again to original position and then the right-hand fist is thrown with some force over the left on a curve. Endurance is expressed by this sign, and it is connected with the sun-dance trials of the young man in testing his bravery and powers of endurance before admission to the ranks of the warriors. ”

“ If you double your fist this way, and tuck your thumb alongside, like that, and aim for this spot right here, about two inches this side of the chin, bringing your arm back and up quickly, like a piston, the person you hit will go down, limp. There's a nerve right here that communicates with the brain. ”

“ A clenched fist means a stone, a fist with the forefinger straight out means a knife, and an open hand means a handkerchief. Whatever the first player makes, the second player must make something better. ”

“ If you took up the mallet to smite upon a spring and make proof of how far you could send a ball flying upwards, your blow descended upon the head of some other recent foeman. Try your fist at the indicator of muscularity, and with zeal you smote full in the stomach of a guy made to represent a Russian. ”

“ If it comes to fighting, each takes off his cravat and his jacket, and gives them in charge to one of the company; then begin the blows of the fist, in the face if possible, the blows of the foot on their shins, the pulling of one another by the hair, &c. ”

“ Every once in a while, whoever it is, takes a crack at the door and yells a little.”
“Um!” says Mark. “T-that’s what Jethro run into, Plunk. It was a f-feller’s fist, which is what causes most black eyes. I’ve heard of folks gittin’ ’em by f-fallin’ out of bed, and by runnin’ into a d-d-door in the dark, and by havin’ a bird fly into their face, and by stoopin’ over quick and buttin’ their own knee. I’ve heard of all those ways, but when you come to git the f-f-facts, most gen’ally you find out it was a fist they run into. ”

“ So we say again, keep your temper and hit straight. You see a circular blow takes more time to deliver than a straight one, and if your opponent swings his arm round at you, while you dart out your own fist at him, your blow will have taken effect long before his clumsy circumgyratory attempt has completed its journey. ”

“ We are insulted—some one slaps our face—the fierce emotion of anger arises and through us surge waves of feeling manifested on the motor side by tensed muscles, rapid heart, harsh breathing, perhaps a general reddening of face and eyes. Instinctively our fists are clenched, a part of the reaction of fight, and it needs but the slightest increase of anger to send us leaping on the aggressor, to fight him perhaps to the death. ”

“ I've gone to see many a young feller and begged him to give up fightin'—I've done all that, but if you was to tell me where I could find that man—man that was a brute to you, I'd hunt him and with my fist I would mash the teeth out of his mouth. ”

“ Whenever they closed, one seized the other’s head under his arm, and beat it with his fist, at the same time striking with his knee between his antagonist’s thighs. In this position, with the head ‘in chancery,’ they are said sometimes to attempt to gouge or scoop out one of the eyes. When they break loose, they never fail to give a swingeing blow with the heel under the ribs, or sometimes under the left ear. It is these blows that are so often fatal. ”

“ Is that long word what you call it when a fellah walks so?—said the young man, making his fists revolve round an imaginary axis, as you may have seen youth of tender age and limited pugilistic knowledge, when they show how they would punish an adversary, themselves protected by this rotating guard,—the middle knuckle, meantime, thumb-supported, fiercely prominent, death-threatening. ”

“ To hold the palm upward, and slowly move the hand backward and forward, says as plain as English "I am going to whip my wife," or "I whip my wife." If they want you to play a game at cards, they close both fists and hold them tightly together. Touching the thumb rapidly with the four fingers closed means you have much or many of anything, like many friends. Making a scissors sign with the fist and second finger means you are cutting some one in the back. ”

“ At times I yield to impulse, and this was one of the times. I reached that young man in two jumps and banged him solidly into the car, then jerked him upright and planted my fist rudely against his nose, allowing him to sprawl in the dust. ”

“ It is all very well to know how to use your fists, and no doubt they are of service to you here, and at your age; but they will play a small part in after-life, and your character will play a very great one. ”

“ The eyes in their heads gleam like sparks, as, with stout square fists, and strong nerves, and hard bones, they strike each other upon the mouth as long as they can grip their swords, which are of great service to them in dealing their heavy blows. ”

“ The same gesture has also been made by throwing the palmar side of the right fist edgewise downward in front of the knuckles of the left, as in Fig. 243. In each instance the left fist is jerked upward very perceptibly as the right one is thrust downward. ”

“ The single clenched fist lifted and ready,
Or the open asking hand held out and waiting.
Choose:
For we meet by one or the other. ”

“ Place your clenched fists one upon the other, and ask some one to separate them by pushing them aside. They will be quite unable to do so, although you are exerting your strength but little against them. ”

“ I felt the sickening impact of a blow and the bludgeon flew from my hold; then he was upon me, belabouring me with both fists, but twining my legs in his, I clung to those merciless arms, while above his fierce snarling and the painful shock of his blows, I heard the girl calling out to me:
"Fight him—fight! Don't cling like a woman—stand away—hit him back—fight!" ”