dwarf

noun, often attributive

\ ˈdwȯrf

plural dwarfs\ ˈdwȯrfs

\ also dwarves\ ˈdwȯrvz

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

verb

dwarfed; dwarfing; dwarfs

Definition of dwarf (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive verb

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

intransitive verb

: to become smaller

dwarf

adjective

Definition of dwarf (Entry 3 of 3)

of a plant

: low-growing in habit a dwarf peach tree dwarfer forms of citrus

Other Words from dwarf Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about dwarf

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Other Words from dwarf

Noun

dwarfish \ ˈdwȯr-fish

\ adjective

dwarfishly adverb

dwarfishness noun

dwarflike \ ˈdwȯrf-ˌlīk

\ adjective

dwarfness \ ˈdwȯrf-nəs

\ noun

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

Hike through fields of dwarf pines to the shores of Lake Nassbodensee, crossing over alternating strata of calciferous and crystalline rock. — National Geographic, "Hiking the Alpe-Adria Trail through Austria, Slovenia, and Italy," 12 June 2019 Dwarf Chinese hollies, dwarf yaupons and one of the improved Japanese boxwood selections also would be good options. — Neil Sperry, ExpressNews.com, "How soon is too soon to use compost?," 7 June 2019 Today, these scientists aim the antennas at friendly-seeming planets the Kepler Space Telescope has found, nearby dwarf-star systems, and whatever some scientist says is weird and so is (maybe, perhaps) aliens. — Sarah Scoles, WIRED, "The WIRED Guide to Aliens," 5 June 2019 Like all stars, M dwarves have powerful magnetic fields. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Why Aren't There More Habitable Planets? Blame Red Dwarfs," 25 Apr. 2019 The youngest and wittiest Lannister sibling, Tyrion, a dwarf, is the black sheep of the family. — John Carucci, The Seattle Times, "It’s not too late to dive into ‘Game of Thrones,’ with help," 13 Apr. 2019 Zones: 7 to 9 Little Ollie Montra Dwarf Olive (Olea europaea 'Montra') This dwarf evergreen has deep green leaves with silvery undersides and can be potted or sheared into a hedge. — Arricca Sansone, Country Living, "20 Best Boxwood Shrubs to Plant in Your Garden," 14 Feb. 2019 Look, Apple has turned into the iPhone and the seven dwarves. — Eric Johnson, Recode, "Microsoft is more valuable than Apple again. Why?," 30 Nov. 2018 The program used to identify Wolf 503b also found that its host star is an orange dwarf, meaning its not as bright as our Sun, but twice as old. — Chris Ciaccia, Fox News, "Exoplanet 'twice the size of Earth' discovered 145 light-years away," 6 Sep. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

According to InsideEVs, which tracks U.S. electric vehicle sales, Tesla sold 13,950 Model 3 units in May, dwarfing sales of its next closest electric vehicle competitor, the Chevrolet Bolt, at 1,396 cars sold. — Washington Post, "Tesla wants everyone to drive an electric car. Now it risks becoming a niche brand.," 14 June 2019 Despite new measures by the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on the practice, Americans are on pace to get nearly 60 billion calls this year, or 5 billion each month, Tyrell says, dwarfing any other country. — Bernhard Warner, Fortune, "Here's How the FCC's Aggressive New Plan to Combat Robocalls Will Work," 14 June 2019 At Grant Park, there’s no avoiding the monolith dwarfing everything, including the musicians, who play second fiddle to their own image. — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, "Grant Park Orchestra review: A visually daunting season-opener with Mayor Lori Lightfoot," 13 June 2019 The crowd in Washington, DC — at least 470,000, according to one estimate — dwarfed the one that had assembled for Trump’s inauguration the day before. — Anna North, Vox, "The Women’s March changed the American left. Now anti-Semitism allegations threaten the group’s future.," 21 Dec. 2018 The figure dwarfs the revenue taken during similar major shopping days of US retailers. — Jon Porter, The Verge, "Alibaba’s Singles Day sales dwarf Amazon’s biggest day," 12 Nov. 2018 Total spending to support or oppose candidates — money spent by either the candidates themselves or outside interest groups — in California House races dwarfs the $58 million tallied at roughly this point in the 2016 election cycle. — Javier Panzar, latimes.com, "Spending soars in California's crowded congressional races ahead of Tuesday primary," 5 June 2018 That dwarfs the $5 billion bet in Nevada, the lone state with a legal sports book that preceded the federal law. — Richard Wolf, USA TODAY, "Supreme Court strikes down ban on sports betting in victory for New Jersey," 14 May 2018 The fund dwarfs all other public and private financial assets in Alaska. — Author: Charles Wohlforth | Opinion, Anchorage Daily News, "How the Alaska Constitution could protect the Permanent Fund from the legislature," 13 Mar. 2018

Recent 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. 2017

These 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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Dictionary Entries near dwarf

Statistics for dwarf

Last Updated

17 Jun 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for dwarf

The first known use of dwarf was before the 12th century

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More Definitions for dwarf

dwarf

noun

Financial 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

noun

English Language Learners Definition of dwarf

(Entry 1 of 3)

in stories : a creature that looks like a small man and that often lives underground and has magical powers

sometimes offensive : a person who is much smaller than most people because of a medical condition

dwarf

verb

English Language Learners Definition of dwarf (Entry 2 of 3)

: to make (something) look very small or unimportant when compared with something else

dwarf

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of dwarf (Entry 3 of 3)

of a plant or animal : smaller than normal size

See the full definition for dwarf in the English Language Learners Dictionary

dwarf

noun

\ ˈdwȯrf

plural dwarfs\ ˈdwȯrfs \ also dwarves\ ˈdwȯrvz \

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

verb

dwarfed; dwarfing

Kids Definition of dwarf (Entry 2 of 3)

: to cause to appear smaller Our car was dwarfed by the giant redwood trees.

dwarf

adjective

Kids Definition of dwarf (Entry 3 of 3)

: of less than the usual size dwarf pine trees

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dwarf

noun, often attributive

\ ˈdwȯ(ə)rf

plural dwarfs\ ˈdwȯ(ə)rfs

\ also dwarves\ ˈdwȯ(ə)rvz

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