Actually, Shakespeare never used this specific phrase. If he had, the gramtically correct way to say it would be "I bite my thumb at thee!"
I will bite my thumb at them, which is disgrace to them if they bear it.

--Shakespeare (from Romeo and Juliet)
by Anonymous April 27, 2003
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It pretty much mean fuck you in lamens terms, or a different way to flip someone off back in the day
I bite my thumb at thee for being such a disgrace!
by Jaja December 1, 2003
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This, actually means that you want to start a fight. A looong time ago people used to "bite" their thumb at someone to show that person you don't actually care about them.
I bite my thumb at thou!. I completely disagree with you all the way.
by luciana September 25, 2005
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It's an old English term for "Fuck you!" Is used in many of Shakespeare's plays.
I bite my thumb at thou! Thou hast beseeched thy family!
by Holla Back! January 27, 2003
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When armies took prisoners in southern Europe in the middle ages, they would sometimes be offered the chance to earn their freedom by eating a fig from a mules anus. As the captors taunted their captive, offering him this degrading method of escape, they would bite their thumbs.
by Themanwiththegiantwilly September 14, 2005
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As has been noted before, it has been used by Shakespeare.
A qualified guess is that the phrase, (and the hand gesture that accompanies it), symbolizes oral sex,
and implies that the insulted is gay.
by Hakan July 26, 2004
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