Library / English Dictionary

DWARF

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: dwarves   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A plant or animal that is atypically small

Classified under:

Nouns with no superordinates

Hypernyms ("dwarf" is a kind of...):

being; organism (a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure

Synonyms:

dwarf; gnome

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("dwarf" is a kind of...):

faerie; faery; fairy; fay; sprite (a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dwarf"):

Nibelung ((German mythology) any of the group of dwarfs who possessed a treasure hoard that was stolen by Siegfried)

Andvari ((Norse mythology) a dwarf who possessed a treasure that was stolen by Loki)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A person who is markedly small

Synonyms:

dwarf; midget; nanus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("dwarf" is a kind of...):

small person (a person of below average size)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dwarf"):

hypophysial dwarf; Levi-Lorrain dwarf; pituitary dwarf (a dwarf whose condition is caused by a deficiency of growth hormones, rather than by genetic factors (as in the case of the achondroplastic dwarf))

hypoplastic dwarf; normal dwarf; primordial dwarf; true dwarf (an achondroplastic dwarf whose small size is the result of a genetic defect; body parts and mental and sexual development are normal)

Derivation:

dwarf (check the growth of)

dwarf (make appear small by comparison)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Check the growth of

Example:

the lack of sunlight dwarfed these pines

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "dwarf" is one way to...):

stunt (check the growth or development of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

dwarf (a person who is markedly small)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make appear small by comparison

Example:

This year's debt dwarfs that of last year

Synonyms:

dwarf; overshadow; shadow

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "dwarf" is one way to...):

command; dominate; overlook; overtop (look down on)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

dwarf (a person who is markedly small)

Credits

 Context examples: 

At just 12.5 light years from the Earth, Teegarden’s Star is the 24th-nearest known star system to our Solar System, and one of the smallest “red dwarf” stars discovered to date.

(Researchers find two new planets with masses similar to Earth’s near a small neighbouring star, University of Granada)

NGTS-1 is a relatively dim red M-dwarf, which are very common in the universe, of apparent magnitude 15.52 ± 0.08.

(Astronomers report dwarf star with unexpectedly giant planet, Wikinews)

After that, all that remains of the star is what we see here: glowing outer layers surrounding a white dwarf star, the remnants of the red giant star’s core.

(Hubble Views Final Stages of a Star’s Life, ESA/NASA)

I particularly recollect his case, from his being took by a dwarf.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But he reassured himself with a glance down at his host—a big man himself but dwarfed by the propinquity of the giant.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The dwarf, at my entreaty, had no other punishment than a sound whipping.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Or it may be influenced by a tidal tug from the star's red dwarf binary companion (HR 4796B), located at least 54 billion miles from the primary star.

(Hubble Finds Huge System of Dusty Material Enveloping the Young Star HR 4796A, NASA)

There is the country of the Amazons, and the country of the dwarfs, and the country of the fair but evil women who slay with beholding, like the basilisk.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Given the high level of activity of its red dwarf star, K2-18b may be more hostile to life as we know it than Earth, as it is likely to be exposed to more high-energy radiation.

(Hubble Finds Water Vapor on Habitable-Zone Exoplanet for 1st Time, NASA)

Today, astronomers cite GK Persei as an example of a “classical nova,” an outburst produced by a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a white dwarf star, the dense remnant of a Sun-like star.

("Mini Supernova" Explosion Could Have Big Impact, NASA)