The middle finger, long finger, second finger, third finger, toll finger or tall man is the third digit of the

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

, located between the

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the mid ...

and the

ring finger The ring finger, third finger, fourth finger, leech finger, or annulary is the fourth digit of the human hand, located between the middle finger and the little finger. Sometimes the term ring finger only refers to the fourth digit of a left-han ...

. It is typically the longest digit. In

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

, it is also called ''the third finger'', ''digitus medius'', ''digitus tertius'' or ''digitus III''. In Western countries, extending the middle finger (either by itself, or along with the

in the United Kingdom: see

V sign The ''V sign'' is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a V shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented. When displa ...

) is an offensive and obscene gesture, widely recognized as a form of insult, due to its resemblance of an erect

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males do n ...

, It is known, colloquially, as "flipping the bird", "flipping (someone) off", or "giving (someone)

the finger In Western culture, "the finger", or the middle finger (as in giving someone the (middle) finger, the bird or flipping someone off) is an obscene hand gesture. The gesture communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is roughly equivalent i ...

". The middle finger is often used for

finger snapping Snapping (or clicking) one's fingers is the act of creating a snapping or clicking sound with one's fingers. Primarily this is done by building tension between the thumb and another ( middle, index, or ring) finger and then moving the other fi ...

together with the thumb.

References

Fingers Hand gestures {{Anatomy-stub