dwarf-likeadj.

1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xii. xv. 183 The cranes fight with the Samoyes a shorte dwarffe like people, &c.

1670 J. Smith England's Improvem. Reviv'd 74 The ground is covered and cumbered with..Dwarf-like-trees, more Boughes then Body or Rootes.

1792 M. A. Meilan tr. F. de S. de La Mothe-Fénelon Adventures Telemachus (ed. 2) I. v. 180 Nor yet do thou his weakly frame despise, Deficient strength of bone, and dwarf-like size.

1850 Ld. Tennyson Princess (ed. 3) vii. 158 Half-crush'd among the rest A dwarflike Cato cower'd.

1918 L. B. Scott Varieties Satsuma Orange Group in U.S. (U.S. Dept. Agric. Bureau, Plant Industry, Office Hort. & Pomol. Investig.) 5 The tree is dwarflike in its habit of growth.

2017 Herald (Glasgow) (Electronic text) 12 Jan. The [ancient Egyptian] perfume box..is decorated with a dwarf-like creature believed to be a symbol of good luck and to ward off evil spirits.

1631 T. Fuller Heavie Punishment lxiv in Davids Sinne sig. E5 But what dost thou, my ventrous Muse, praesume So far above thy dwarf-like strength to straine?

1779 Pictures of Men, Manners & Times II. xxv. 124 Place yourselves..by the side of these heroic heroines of our country. Think of the dwarf-like figures which you cut in comparison.

1844 M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer New Sketches Every-day Life I. 23 I saw only in his soul, in his activity, in his efforts, that which was great, before which all that I had before loved or striven after appeared to me pitiful and dwarf-like.

1952 S. E. Asch Social Psychol. iv. 136 Isolated men, however potentially gifted, would have dwarf-like powers compared to those of men in society.

2015 L. Aggestam in A. Bakardjieva Engelbrekt et al. EU's Role in Fighting Global Imbalances ii. 18 Realists..have been more sceptical of the EU's leadership prospects, given its dwarf-like status in a world of great powers.