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Humpty Dumpty

[ huhmp-tee duhmp-tee ]

noun

  1. an egg-shaped character in a Mother Goose nursery rhyme that fell off a wall and could not be put together again.
  2. (sometimes lowercase) something that has been damaged severely and usually irreparably.


humpty dumpty

/ ˈhʌmptɪ ˈdʌmptɪ /

noun

  1. a short fat person
  2. a person or thing that once overthrown or broken cannot be restored or mended
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

“Humpty Dumpty”

  1. A nursery rhyme:

    Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;

    Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

    All the king's horses and all the king's men

    Couldn't put Humpty together again.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Humpty Dumpty1

Rhyming compound based on humpty; hump, -ed 3, -y 2
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Humpty Dumpty1

C18: after the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty
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Example Sentences

A house on the site said to be the inspiration for the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme has been put up for sale.

From BBC

Humpty Dumpty is an apt analogy here: It’s easier to prevent his great fall than to put him together again after he’s broken.

In dribs and drabs over the next 16 years, a remarkable pattern emerged — a Humpty Dumpty story with a happier ending.

“You can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again if you default on the debt,” said Bill Dudley, the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

A day later, it illustrated Mr. Trump as Humpty Dumpty about to have a great fall.

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