From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthumb a liftthumb a liftBritish English, thumb a ride American English informalTTC to persuade a driver of a passing car to stop and take you somewhere, by putting your hand out with your thumb raised I thumbed a lift into town. → thumb
Examples from the Corpus
thumb a lift• Luke Bouverie missed the last bus out of Woodborough to Loxford, so he thumbed a lift.• Two or three cars passed me and I tried to thumb a lift, but they didn't stop.• You try to thumb a lift from the cars as they approach from either direction, sweeping you with their headlights. 