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Tom Thumb
[In reference to diminutive stature: cf. thumb n. 3.]
1. A dwarf or pigmy of popular tradition or fable, whose history was common as a chap-book; hence a name for a dwarf or diminutive male person; also contemptuously, a petty or insignificant person, a pigmy holder of a high position. Also attrib.
1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 235 They feigned him to be a little child like Tom Thumb. 1621R. Johnson (title) The History of Tom Thumbe. 1630(title) Tom Thumbe, his Life and Death. 1661Needham Hist. Eng. Reb. 74 Princes are brav'd by Jack and Jill, Wat Tilers and Tom Thums. 1665Surv. Aff. Netherl. 93, Jan. 20. 1651. they Voted our Tom Thombs a free State forsooth, and Commonwealth. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Tom-thumb, a Dwarf. 1806Naval Chron. XV. 159 The Tom Thumb egotism..of the Corsican Usurper. 1889N.W. Linc. Gloss., Tom Thumb, a small and insignificant person. 1907Daily Chron. 6 Feb. 5/5 ‘Tom Thumb’ is a name generally given by showmen to liliputians. The first holder of this ‘title’ was Charles Stratton, who was brought to London by Barnum.
2. attrib. Applied to dwarf varieties or specimens of animals or plants; also, ellipt. or absol. as n.
a. A kind of dwarf oyster.
b. A dwarf variety of cabbage, lettuce, or other vegetable, of antirrhinum, nasturtium, or other flower.
1876Rep. Sel. Committee Oyster Fisheries 49/2 Those oysters which you call buttons, I believe, or which some people call Tom Thumbs. Ibid. 77/2 A sort of dwarf oyster, or Tom Thumb oyster, would pass through the two-inch ring. 1898Westm. Gaz. 29 Oct. 1/3 He had gone on sowing radishes and broccoli—making odd signs with pieces of stick and coloured paper to mark ‘tom-thumb’ or ‘giant’, ‘early’ or ‘late’ [varieties]. Mod. The Tom Thumb nasturtiums are preferable to the long straggling forms. Are the antirrhinums Tom Thumbs?
3. A popular name of some British wild flowers.
1886Britten & Holland Eng. Plant-n., Tom Thumb, Lathyrus pratensis. Berks... Suss. Ibid., Appendix, Tom Thumb,..Lotus corniculatus. Oxf.
▸ Tom Thumb golf n. (also Tom Thumb Golf) U.S. (now hist.) = miniature golf n. at miniature n. and adj. Compounds 2.
1928N.Y. Times 17 Oct. 28/6 The Gingerbread House of Hansel and Gretel overlooks a *Tom Thumb golf course. 2001USA Today (Nexis) 10 Aug. 3 c, In 1930, Tom Thumb Golf held its first national tournament for prize money. |