Step 1: The phrase finger-in-glove describes branching, tube-like opacities on a chest film that look like the fingers of a glove. These are mucus-filled, dilated bronchi.
Step 2: This pattern is the hallmark of a bronchocele - mucoid impaction inside an obstructed or dilated airway. Classic settings are allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, asthma, cystic fibrosis, and obstruction by a tumour such as a carcinoid or hamartoma.
Step 3: Differentiating it from the distractors - alveolar proteinosis is recognised by crazy-paving, Pneumocystis by diffuse ground-glass haze, and tuberculosis by cavities and apical scarring. The gloved-finger shadow does not belong to any of these.
Step 4: Thus the sign points to a bronchocele.
\[\boxed{\text{Bronchocele}}\]