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.
In the podcast, the couple reveal they call each other "munchkin" and Zara has another two-word nickname for Mike in her phone which ends in '"kitten".
From BBC • Dec. 20, 2023
The munchkin breed—the corgi of cats—is proof that short-legged cats can exist.
From Slate • Oct. 23, 2023
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
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.
