Adjacent Words

gremlin definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous [syn: elf, hob, gremlin, pixie, pixy, brownie, imp]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1941 a cause of error or equipment malfunction (as in aircraft) conceived of as a small mischievous gnome

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. colloq. 1 an imaginary mischievous sprite regarded as responsible for mechanical faults, esp. in aircraft. 2 any similar cause of trouble. Etymology: 20th c.: orig. unkn., but prob. after goblin

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(gremlins) A gremlin is a tiny imaginary evil spirit that people say is the cause of a problem, especially in a machine, which they cannot explain properly or locate. The microphones went dead as if the technical gremlins had struck again. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

Ariel, Befind, Corrigan, Dingbelle, Fifinella, Finnbeara, Hob, Hobgoblin, Mab, Oberon, Puck, Titania, bad fairy, bad peri, banshee, brownie, cluricaune, deviling, devilkin, diablotin, dwarf, elf, erlking, fairy, fairy queen, fay, gnome, goblin, hob, imp, kobold, leprechaun, little devil, ouphe, peri, pixie, poltergeist, pooka, puca, puck, pwca, sprite, sylph, sylphid, tokoloshe, young devil