dwarf

dwarf
    n 1: a person who is markedly small [syn: {dwarf}, {midget},
         {nanus}]
    2: a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man; lives in the
       depths of the earth and guards buried treasure [syn: {gnome},
       {dwarf}]
    3: a plant or animal that is atypically small
    v 1: make appear small by comparison; "This year's debt dwarfs
         that of last year" [syn: {shadow}, {overshadow}, {dwarf}]
    2: check the growth of; "the lack of sunlight dwarfed these
       pines"
    

Dwarf \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.
      [1913 Webster]

   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}.
      [PJC]

   Note: During the Middle Ages dwarfs as well as fools shared
         the favor of courts and the nobility.
         [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [PJC]

   Note: Dwarf is used adjectively in reference to anything much
         below the usual or normal size; as, a dwarf pear tree;
         dwarf honeysuckle.
         [1913 Webster]

   {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.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Dwarf \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.
   [1913 Webster]

         Even the most common moral ideas and affections . . .
         would be stunted and dwarfed, if cut off from a
         spiritual background.                    --J. C.
                                                  Shairp.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Dwarf \Dwarf\, v. i.
   To become small; to diminish in size.
   [1913 Webster]

         Strange power of the world that, the moment we enter
         it, our great conceptions dwarf.         --Beaconsfield.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Dwarf
a lean or emaciated person (Lev. 21:20).
    

131 Moby Thesaurus words for "dwarf":
      Ariel, Befind, Corrigan, Finnbeara, Lilliputian, Mab, Oberon,
      Titania, Tom Thumb, ace, atom, banshee, bedwarf, belittle, bit,
      bitsy, brownie, cluricaune, dab, de-emphasize, detract from,
      diminish, diminutive, dole, dominate, dot, downplay, dram, dribble,
      driblet, dumpy, dwarfed, dwarfish, elf, elfin, fairy, fairy queen,
      farthing, fay, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, gnome, gobbet, goblin,
      grain, granule, gremlin, groat, hair, handful, hob, homunculus,
      imp, incipient, iota, jot, kobold, leprechaun, lilliputian, little,
      little bit, manikin, meager, midge, midget, miniature, minify,
      minikin, minim, minimize, minimum, minimus, minutiae, mite,
      modicum, molecule, mote, nanoid, nutshell, ounce, ouphe,
      overshadow, particle, pebble, peewee, peri, pinch, pip-squeak,
      pittance, pixie, play down, point, pooka, puca, pwca, pygmy,
      rudimental, rudimentary, runt, runty, scraggy, scrubby, scruple,
      shrimp, shriveled, shrunk, shrunken, smidgen, smitch, speck,
      spoonful, spot, sprite, squat, stunted, suppress, sylph, sylphid,
      thimbleful, tiny bit, tittle, trifling amount, trivia, underplay,
      undersize, undersized, wart, wee, whit, wizened