Tom Thumb
Americannoun
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a diminutive hero of folk tales.
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an extremely small person; dwarf.
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General, nickname of Charles Sherwood Stratton.
noun
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General, stage name of Charles Stratton. 1838–83, US midget, exhibited in P. T. Barnum's circus
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a dwarf; midget
Etymology
Origin of Tom Thumb
after Tom Thumb, the tiny hero of several English folk tales
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.
Ishika Santosh Wade did most of her grocery shopping at Texas supermarket chain Tom Thumb, owned by Albertsons, until inflation soared in 2022.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
Tom Thumb: Most stores will have adjusted hours.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 20, 2023
Tom Thumb, Chang and Eng, even animal acts like Jumbo the elephant.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 18, 2019
Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca — those two bad mice — will always remind me of my sons, and the delightfully funny mess they have made of my life.
From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2013
Once when the "Puritani" quartet was in Paris, Lablache was quartered at the same hotel as General Tom Thumb, who was delighting audiences at a vaudeville.
From Famous Singers of To-day and Yesterday by Lahee, Henry C.
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.
