1.   He bit his nails, fingered a string of worry beads and talked about how guilty he felt at having so much trouble cutting cigarettes loose.

2.   Straining against the rope, a tall, gray-bearded man was fingering a string of beads, staring at his son.

3.   String players use the left hand in complex ways to finger the strings, producing different pitches and tonal expressiveness.

4.   The condition, called focal dystonia, results from repetitive stress and entails loss of fine motor control and thus an inability to finger strings with the needed dexterity.

5.   He nervously fingered a string of blue beads and started on the last leg for home.