Dwarf

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dwarf \Dwarf\, n.; pl. {Dwarfs}. [OE. dwergh, dwerf, dwarf, AS.
     dweorg, dweorh; akin to D. dwerg, MHG. twerc, G. zwerg, Icel.
     dvergr, Sw. & Dan. dverg; of unknown origin.]
     1. An animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size
        of its species or kind.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. Especially: A diminutive human being, small in stature due
        to a pathological condition which causes a distortion of
        the proportions of body parts to each other, such as the
        limbs, torso, and head. A person of unusually small height
        who has normal body proportions is usually called a
        {midget}.
        [PJC]
  
     Note: During the Middle Ages dwarfs as well as fools shared
           the favor of courts and the nobility.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Folklore) A small, usually misshapen person, typically a
        man, who may have magical powers; mythical dwarves were
        often depicted as living underground in caves.
        [PJC]
  
     Note: Dwarf is used adjectively in reference to anything much
           below the usual or normal size; as, a dwarf pear tree;
           dwarf honeysuckle.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Dwarf elder} (Bot.), danewort.
  
     {Dwarf wall} (Arch.), a low wall, not as high as the story of
        a building, often used as a garden wall or fence. --Gwilt.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dwarf \Dwarf\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dwarfed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Dwarfing}.]
     To hinder from growing to the natural size; to make or keep
     small; to stunt. --Addison.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Even the most common moral ideas and affections . . .
           would be stunted and dwarfed, if cut off from a
           spiritual background.                    --J. C.
                                                    Shairp.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dwarf \Dwarf\, v. i.
     To become small; to diminish in size.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Strange power of the world that, the moment we enter
           it, our great conceptions dwarf.         --Beaconsfield.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dwarf
       n 1: a person who is abnormally small [syn: {midget}, {nanus}]
       2: a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the
          depths of the earth and guards buried treasure [syn: {gnome}]
       v 1: make appear small by comparison; "This year's debt dwarves
            that of last year" [syn: {shadow}, {overshadow}]
       2: check the growth of; "the lack of sunlight dwarfed these
          pines"
       [also: {dwarves} (pl)]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  131 Moby Thesaurus words for "dwarf":
     Ariel, Befind, Corrigan, Finnbeara, Lilliputian, Mab, Oberon,
     Titania, Tom Thumb, ace, atom, banshee, bedwarf, belittle, bit,
     bitsy, brownie, cluricaune, dab, de-emphasize, detract from,
     diminish, diminutive, dole, dominate, dot, downplay, dram, dribble,
     driblet, dumpy, dwarfed, dwarfish, elf, elfin, fairy, fairy queen,
     farthing, fay, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, gnome, gobbet, goblin,
     grain, granule, gremlin, groat, hair, handful, hob, homunculus,
     imp, incipient, iota, jot, kobold, leprechaun, lilliputian, little,
     little bit, manikin, meager, midge, midget, miniature, minify,
     minikin, minim, minimize, minimum, minimus, minutiae, mite,
     modicum, molecule, mote, nanoid, nutshell, ounce, ouphe,
     overshadow, particle, pebble, peewee, peri, pinch, pip-squeak,
     pittance, pixie, play down, point, pooka, puca, pwca, pygmy,
     rudimental, rudimentary, runt, runty, scraggy, scrubby, scruple,
     shrimp, shriveled, shrunk, shrunken, smidgen, smitch, speck,
     spoonful, spot, sprite, squat, stunted, suppress, sylph, sylphid,
     thimbleful, tiny bit, tittle, trifling amount, trivia, underplay,
     undersize, undersized, wart, wee, whit, wizened
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Dwarf
     a lean or emaciated person (Lev. 21:20).