munchkin
Americannoun
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a small person, especially one who is dwarfish or elfin in appearance.
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Informal. a child.
The munchkins enjoyed holding and feeding the animals in the petting zoo.
noun
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informal an undersized person or a child, esp an appealing one
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a breed of medium-sized cat with short legs
Etymology
Origin of munchkin
After the Munchkins, a dwarflike race portrayed in L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and other fantasy novels
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Karis, from Manchester, plays a younger version of the green-skinned protagonist Elphaba, while Harriet, from Tameside, plays a munchkin in the Wizard of Oz prequel, based on the long-running West End and Broadway musical.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2024
My current favorite smart home use: I say “wind down” in my baby’s room and the lights slowly ramp down to give my munchkin the visual cue that it’s bedtime.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 6, 2023
Nicole, a munchkin, and Mickey, the scarecrow, talked for hours while painting a backdrop of the Wicked Witch’s crows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2022
One day, Eastman’s young daughter, Heather, a bob-haired munchkin, whirls aimlessly about the studio.
From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2021
Sitti stroked her face saying, “Ya Habibi, Habibti,” cackling like a giddy munchkin.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
