dwarfing

American  

[dwawr-fing] / ˈdwɔr fɪŋ /

noun

Biology.

1. a process in which an animal breed or plant cultivar is intentionally induced, as by selective breeding and genetic engineering, to produce a breed or cultivar that is significantly smaller than the original: bulldogs and commercial fruit trees are examples of organisms that have been subjected to dwarfing.

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Etymology

Origin of dwarfing

First recorded in 1620–30; dwarf ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

In contrast, the current crisis affects 20% of the world's supplies, "dwarfing the 1970s shock", she said.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

Today, individual income taxes make up about half of federal revenue, dwarfing tariff payments.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

It means investors are demanding such a high convenience yield to hold the physical commodity that it is dwarfing costs for storage and other inputs that are usually factored into futures prices.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 17, 2026

The country’s headline number is 300 billion barrels, a reserve that would be the largest in the world, dwarfing even Saudi Arabia’s 265 billion barrels.

From Barron's • Jan. 6, 2026

Rishi made the first strokes, his hand dwarfing the stub of charcoal pencil that had obviously been sharpened many, many times.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon