dwarf

Word family

Related topics: Folklore, Biology

dwarf1 /dwɔːf $ dwɔːrf/ noun (plural dwarfs or dwarves) [countableC]

1 RFan imaginary creature that looks like a small man 小矮人〔虚构的人物〕

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

《白雪公主和七个小矮人》

2. SHORT PERSONa person who is a dwarf has not continued to grow to the normal height because of a medical condition. Many people think that this use is offensive. 矮子，侏儒〔许多人认为这一用法具有冒犯性〕

→ white dwarf

Examples from the Corpus

dwarf• For the moment at least, she had forgotten that he was a dwarf and the biggest disappointment of her life.• The smallest, feeblest stars, called M5 red dwarfs, have about 5 percent of the mass of our Sun.• But the dwarfs are free of inner conflicts, and have no desire to move beyond their phallic existence to intimate relations.• You may want to embellish the walk through the woods and the dwarfs' house, and even name the dwarfs.• I was not hurt, but this time the dwarf was sent away from the palace as a punishment.• That is about the size of a typical white dwarf, the remnant left behind after the death of a normal star.

Related topics: Biology

dwarf2 adjectiveadj [only before noun]

HBa dwarf plant or animal is much smaller than the usual size 〔植物或动物〕矮生的

a dwarf conifer

矮生针叶树

Examples from the Corpus

dwarf• a dwarf cherry tree• I also like the dwarf rudbeckia Toto.• For a small city lot, there are dwarf varieties that grow eight to 15 feet tall.

dwarf3 verb [transitiveT]

HIGHto be so big that other things are made to seem very small 〔因自身巨大而〕使显得矮小，使相形见绌

The cathedral is dwarfed by the surrounding skyscrapers.

周围的摩天大楼使得大教堂显得很矮小。

n Grammar

Dwarf is usually passive.

Examples from the Corpus

dwarf• The ship came slowly into the harbour, dwarfing all the surrounding boats.• It is a mountain range that dwarfs any subaerial system.• All is dwarfed at the end, though, by a chilling report and follow-up on the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre.• But that figure is dwarfed by the loss of the revenue and profits stream over the life of the field.• The smaller, older houses are dwarfed by the new apartment blocks and hotels.• Rachel was small and slight, and was dwarfed by the other competitors.• But those same polls have shown that Dole dwarfs Clinton on questions of honesty and integrity.• The 74 million Baby-Boom cohort dwarfs the 40 million Generation Xers.• Once the work was hung I wanted it to occupy the space comfortably without dwarfing the area or appearing lost.• In addition to the scale, the basement contained the weight room and lockers and it dwarfed the gym above us.

Origin dwarf1

Old English dweorg