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Definition of dwarf
(Entry 1 of 3)
1a : a person of unusually small stature (see stature sense 1) especially : a person whose height does not exceed 4' 10" and is typically less than 4' 5"
b : an insignificant person a literary dwarf
2 : an animal or plant much below normal size
3 folklore : a small legendary manlike being who is usually misshapen and ugly and skilled as a craftsman
4 astronomy : a star (such as the sun) of ordinary or low luminosity and relatively small mass and size
dwarf
verbDefinition of dwarf (Entry 2 of 3)
1 : to restrict the growth of : stunt children dwarfed by malnutrition
2 : to cause to appear smaller or to seem inferior dwarfed by his older brother has dwarfed the achievements of her predecessors
: to become smaller
dwarf
adjectiveDefinition of dwarf (Entry 3 of 3)
: low-growing in habit a dwarf peach tree dwarfer forms of citrus
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Other Words from dwarf
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Synonyms & Antonyms for dwarf
Synonyms: Noun
diminutive, midget, mite, peewee, pygmy (also pigmy), runt, scrub, shrimp, Tom Thumb
Synonyms: Verb
Antonyms: Noun
behemoth, colossus, giant, jumbo, leviathan, mammoth, monster, titan
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Examples of dwarf in a Sentence
Noun
Shetland ponies are the dwarfs of the horse world. Snow White and the seven dwarfs.Verb
shrubs dwarfed by the lack of water
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Aviles had assembled 200 soldiers, drummers, trumpeters, fifers, and a dwarf who was a gifted singer and dancer. — National Geographic, "Ancient Native American King's House Rediscovered in Florida," 13 June 2018 And to challenge the λCDM model, scientists would need to rule out other explanations for the dwarf galaxies’ orbits. — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "New observations of galaxies challenge the standard cosmological model," 1 Feb. 2018 Snow and snap peas are available in both vining and dwarf versions. — The Editors Of Organic Life, Good Housekeeping, "Growing Peas Has Never Been Easier Than This," 31 Mar. 2017 On Nidavellir, the heart of a dying star, Thor forges a new weapon, Stormbreaker, with the help of Rocket, Groot (Vin Diesel) and the dwarf Eitri (Peter Dinklage). — Richard Newby, The Hollywood Reporter, "The Boundless Potential of Thor," 6 May 2018 There are many types to choose from, including hollies, boxwoods, rhododendrons, and aspidistra, with more new dwarf varieties being released each season. — Timothy Dahl, Popular Mechanics, "Easy-To-Grow Plants You Should Plant This Spring," 1 Mar. 2018 Fortunately, there is now a dwarf — and aptly named — form of this outstanding shrub. — Earl Nickel, SFChronicle.com, "Let this ‘Purple Pixie’ bring a little color to the garden," 29 June 2018 Grump and his fellow dwarves are all here, sneezing, stuttering, complaining and singing. — The Christian Science Monitor, "4 delightful new books for middle-grade readers," 7 June 2018 Annuals such as dwarf sunflowers and California poppies produce flowers quickly and can grow in deeper containers, Zagory noted. — Debbie Arrington, sacbee, "Put bee-friendly flowers anywhere with portable pollinator gardens | The Sacramento Bee," 8 Mar. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Right-wing demonstrations in Germany are often dwarfed by counter-demonstrations and can sometimes turn violent. — Washington Post, "Many protests planned against Berlin right-wing party rally," 24 May 2018 But at 5-10 and 178 pounds, he'll be dwarfed by the likes of Julio Jones and Mike Evans in the NFC South. — Michael Middlehurst-schwartz, USA TODAY, "NFL draft boom-or-bust picks: Josh Allen among riskiest players," 30 Apr. 2018 These particles can reach Earth with energies of hundreds of trillions of electron volts — dwarfing the mere 6.5 trillion electron volts of the protons circulating through the Large Hadron Collider in Europe. — Amina Khan, latimes.com, "After years of searching, scientists finally trace high-energy neutrinos to a distant blazar," 12 July 2018 That’s dwarfed by the $6.7 billion that analytics firm Narus expects the e-sports betting market to be worth, driven by the popularity of wagers on video game competitions in other parts of the world where gambling is already legal. — Patrick Shanley, The Hollywood Reporter, "E-Sports Plan for Boost From Legal Gambling," 31 May 2018 The rehearsal space itself is not much more than a large, dark room, and is in fact dwarfed by the sheer enormity of The Glitch Mob’s new stage design. — Michael Sundius, Billboard, "Inside The Glitch Mob's Innovative Blade 2.0 Stage: Exclusive Interview," 31 May 2018 While Amazon’s 2017 global e-commerce revenue of $108.4 billion dwarfed Walmart’s projected $17.5 billion in online sales, Flipkart is the current market leader in India. — Rani Molla, Recode, "Why Walmart bought Flipkart — in five charts," 11 May 2018 While it hasn’t been officially verified, this pearl reportedly weighs 75 pounds, dwarfing the Pearl of Lao Tzu’s Guinness record. — Michael Lapointe, The Atlantic, "The Twisted Tale of the World’s Largest Pearl," 11 May 2018 Since 2013, its shares are up more than 700 percent, dwarfing the gain of more than 80 percent for the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. — Matt Phillips, BostonGlobe.com, "Elon Musk told investors, ‘please sell our stock.’ That’s what they did," 4 May 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Dwarf planet Ceres, found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, sports a weirdly tall and lonely mountain: Ahuna Mons. — Liz Kruesi, Discover Magazine, "Ceres Hosts an Ice Volcano," 21 Dec. 2016 Dwarf irises Why grow them: My bright-purple reticulatas reliably bloom in the first weeks of March, sticking their speckled tongues out at raging wind. — Susan Clotfelter, The Denver Post, "Ten plants that even a black-thumb gardener can’t kill," 31 Mar. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dwarf.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for dwarf
dwarf
nounFinancial Definition of dwarf
What It Is
In the mortgage business, a dwarf is a group of mortgage-backed securities that mature in fewer than 15 years. The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae) issues dwarves.
How It Works
Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) are securities that represent an interest in a pool of mortgage loans. Let's assume you want to buy a house, so you get a mortgage from XYZ Bank. XYZ Bank transfers money into your account, and you agree to repay the money according to a set schedule. XYZ Bank (which could also be a thrift, credit union, or other originator) may then choose to hold the mortgage in its portfolio (i.e., simply collect the interest and principal payments over the next several years) or sell it.
If XYZ Bank sells the mortgage, it gets cash to make other loans. So let's assume that XYZ Bank sells your mortgage to Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae groups your mortgage with similar mortgages it has already purchased (referred to as "pooling" the mortgages). The mortgages in the pool have common characteristics (i.e., similar interest rates, maturities). Pools that mature in fewer than 15 years make up dwarves.
Fannie Mae then sells securities that represent an interest in the dwarves, of which your mortgage is a small part (called securitizing the pool). It sells these MBS to investors in the open market. With the funds from the sale of the MBS, Fannie Mae can purchase more mortgages and create more MBS.
Why It Matters
For investors, an MBS is much like a bond, and dwarves are relatively short-term bonds in this sense However, it is important to note that payments that are part interest and part principal could be unfavorable to some dwarf investors, because with each decrease in outstanding principal there is a corresponding decrease in the amount of interest that accrues. The return of principal could also vary depending on how quickly the underlying mortgages are repaid.
Fannie Mae guarantees the timely payment of interest and principal on the MBS they issue -- that is, if the borrowers do not make their mortgage payments on time, Fannie Mae will still make timely interest and principal payments to their MBS investors. It is important to note that the U.S. government does not guarantee Fannie Mae. That is, if it cannot fulfill their obligations to its MBS investors, the government has no responsibility to rescue it.
Source: Investing Answers
dwarf
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of dwarf
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to make (something) look very small or unimportant when compared with something else
dwarf
adjectiveEnglish Language Learners Definition of dwarf (Entry 2 of 2)
of a plant or animal : smaller than normal size
See the full definition for dwarf in the English Language Learners Dictionary
dwarf
noun
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Kids Definition of dwarf
(Entry 1 of 3)
1 : a person, animal, or plant much smaller than normal size
2 : a creature in legends that is usually pictured as a small person who is skilled at some craft
dwarf
verbKids Definition of dwarf (Entry 2 of 3)
: to cause to appear smaller Our car was dwarfed by the giant redwood trees.
dwarf
adjectiveKids Definition of dwarf (Entry 3 of 3)
: of less than the usual size dwarf pine trees
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also dwarves\ ˈdwȯ(ə)rvz
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Medical Definition of dwarf
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a person of unusually small stature especially : a person whose height does not exceed 4 feet 10 inches (1.47 meters) and is typically less than 4 feet 5 inches (1.35 meters)
2 : an animal much below normal size
dwarf
transitive verbMedical Definition of dwarf (Entry 2 of 2)
: to restrict the growth of : stunt
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