midget
/ˈmɪdʒɪt
/noun
1A very small person or thing.One was as tall and skinny as a lamppost, one was fat and round like a ball, and the other two were so short they were almost midgets.
Synonyms
small person, short person, person of restricted growth
offensive dwarf, pygmy
rare homunculus, manikin, Lilliputian
1.1 offensive A person affected by dwarfism.
adjective
1Very small: a midget submarine...
- The midget submarine was to be released not more than 15 miles from its target from a parent submarine or surface craft, travel to its intended target and then place a timer charge on its target before slipping away undetected to safety.
- Ship-watchers, mainly Norwegians, were also installed on the Norwegian coast, where German warships lay in wait for Arctic convoys, and reports from them enabled attacks to be launched against them by aircraft and midget submarines.
- One of the many interesting sidebars includes computer-enhanced images of a classic battle photo that reveals the previously unnoticed presence of midget submarines just off Battleship Row.
Synonyms
dwarf, miniature, baby
diminutive, dwarfish, petite, elfin, very small, pocket, toy, pygmy
informal pint-sized, sawn-off
miniature, pocket, fun-size
1.1Canadian Denoting a level of amateur sport typically involving children aged between sixteen and seventeen: midget hockey...
- He led his oldest son's midget hockey team to a second-place finish in Greater Vancouver.
- The West Vancouver Thunder are the B.C. midget AA hockey champions.
- It doesn't get any better than this if you are a midget hockey fan.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from midge + -et1.
This is first used of anything that is very small, and only for an unusually small person from the mid 19th century. It is a development of Old English midge, the small biting fly.