dwarf
Noun
- An individual of unusually small stature; a mythical small human-like being.
- a person who is markedly small
- a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure
- a plant or animal that is atypically small
- Any member of a race of beings from (especially Scandinavian and other Germanic) folklore, usually depicted as having some sort of supernatural powers and being skilled in crafting and metalworking, often as short with long beards, and sometimes as clashing with elves.
- A person of short stature, often one whose limbs are disproportionately small in relation to the body as compared with typical adults, usually as the result of a genetic condition.
- An animal, plant or other thing much smaller than the usual of its sort.
- A dwarf star.
Verb
Verb Forms: dwarfed, dwarfing, dwarfs
- To cause to appear small by comparison; to stunt growth.
- make appear small by comparison
- "This year's debt dwarfs that of last year"
- check the growth of
- "the lack of sunlight dwarfed these pines"
- To render (much) smaller, turn into a dwarf (version).
- To make appear (much) smaller, puny, tiny; to be much larger than.
- To make appear insignificant.
- To become (much) smaller.
- To hinder from growing to the natural size; to make or keep small; to stunt.
Adj
- Miniature.
Adjective
- Extremely small in size compared to others of its kind.
Examples
- Bach dwarfs all other composers.
- dwarf honeysuckle
- dwarf tree
- Her triple-word play of ’QUARTZ’ managed to dwarf her opponent’s previous high score.
- His opponent’s feeble two-letter word seemed dwarf next to her impressive bingo.
- It is possible to grow the plants as dwarf as one desires.
- Playing DWARF strategically earned him an extra 20 points in Scrabble.
- The newly-built skyscraper dwarfs all older buildings in the downtown skyline.
- The specimen is a very dwarf form of the plant.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English dwergh, dwerw, dwerf, from Old English dweorg, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz.
Cognate with Scots dwerch; Old High German twerc (German Zwerg); Old Norse dvergr (Swedish dvärg); Old Frisian dwirg (West Frisian dwerch); Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (German Low German Dwarg, Dwarch); Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg).
The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of Old English dweorg, but the plural dweorgas would have given rise to dwarrows and the oblique stem dweorge- would have led to dwery. These forms are sometimes found as the nominative singular in Middle English texts and in English dialects. A parallel case is that of Old English burg giving burgh, borough, burrow, bury.
Synonyms
gnome, midget, nanus, overshadow, shadow, dwarfin, dwarrow, eclipse, elf, miniaturize, outdo, outmatch, outshadow, outshine, outstrip, put to shame, pygmy, runt, shrink, surpass, upstage
Scrabble Score: 12
dwarf: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Worddwarf: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
dwarf: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary