GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 3 definitions

1.       
   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.
   
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   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.
   
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   ☞ During the Middle Ages dwarfs as well as fools shared the favor of courts and the nobility.
   
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   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.
   
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   Dwarf is used adjectively in reference to anything much below the usual or normal size; as, a dwarf pear tree; dwarf honeysuckle.
   
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   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.
   
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2.       
   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.
   
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   Even the most common moral ideas and affections . . . would be stunted and dwarfed, if cut off from a spiritual background. J. C. Shairp.
   
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3.       
   Dwarf, v. i. To become small; to diminish in size.
   
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   Strange power of the world that, the moment we enter it, our great conceptions dwarf. Beaconsfield.
   
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