hop-o'-my-thumb

[hop-uh-mahy-thuhm]

noun

1. a very small person, as a dwarf.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hop-o'-my-thumb¹

First recorded in 1520–30; noun use of imperative phrase hop on my thumb

Example Sentences

Hop-o’-My-Thumb tells two of his brothers to steal the seven-league boots of the sleeping ogre, and the boys beat an exit with the awakened ogre in hot pursuit with a meat cleaver.

From New York Times

The boor with the hog on a plate under his arm, his terrible teeth a-glitter for hog and general, is more alarming than the ogre in Cruikshank's Hop-o'-my-Thumb; he tacitly affirms his creator's power to confer delicious terrors on the nursery.

From Project Gutenberg

This was the maligned "Hop-o'-my-Thumb," the pictures of which possess the charm of the artist's "Pentamerone."

From Project Gutenberg

Such a mite he was, such a Hop-o’-my-thumb, such a mop of a head, the hair of which defied confinement by the old Tam o’ Shanter stuck on the top of it!

From Project Gutenberg

Joe heard Lucy, ahead of him, saying it reminded her of the woods that Hop-o’-my-thumb and his 152 brother got lost in.

From Project Gutenberg