dwarves
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dwarves
(dwôrvz)n.
A plural of dwarf.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
dwarf
(dwɔrf)n., pl. dwarfs, dwarves,
adj., v. n.
1. a person of abnormally small stature owing to a pathological condition, esp. a condition that produces short limbs or anatomical deformation.
2. an animal or plant much smaller than the average of its kind or species.
3. a diminutive being of folklore, often represented as a tiny old man, skilled as an artificer and having magical powers.
4. dwarf star.
adj. 5. of unusually small stature or size; diminutive.
v.t. 6. to cause to seem small in size, character, etc., as by being much larger.
7. to prevent the due development of; stunt.
v.i. 8. to become stunted or smaller.
[before 900; Old English dweorh, dweorg; c. Old High German twerg, Old Norse dvergr]
dwarf′like`, adj.
syn: dwarf, midget, pygmy are terms for a very small person. A dwarf is someone checked in growth or stunted, or in some way not normally formed. A midget (not in technical use) is someone normally proportioned, but diminutive. A pygmy is properly a member of one of certain small-sized peoples of Africa and Asia, but the word is often used imprecisely to mean dwarf or midget. dwarf is a term often used to describe very small plants. pygmy is used to describe very small animals.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.