1.   George stuck out his index finger and raised his thumb.

2.   Alarmingly, Ebert raises his thumb, too.

3.   I keep my thumb raised.

4.   I raised a thumb but I was not OK.

5.   Lira proceeded to toss a belt-high fastball that looked and smelled like a strike, but the umpire Joe Brinkman never raised his thumb.

6.   Sitting stiffly, legs together, eyes straight ahead, I raise my thumb to this fairy-tale fusion of Mafia movies and samurai epics.

7.   The most successful ergonomic product by far has been the Microsoft Natural Keyboard, a wave-shaped, split keyboard that raises the thumbs and separates the hands.

8.   If just one of them volunteers to do so, the community will raise their thumbs.

9.   Annan made no comment to the press after he emerged from the meeting, but raised his thumb as if to say that the talks were positive.