Adjacent Words

Runt definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RUNT, n. [See Runnet.]
Any animal small below the natural or usual size of the species.
Of tame pigeons, are croppers, carriers and runts.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: disparaging terms for small people [syn: runt, shrimp, peewee, half-pint]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1501 1. chiefly Scottish a hardened stalk or stem of a plant 2. an animal unusually small of its kind; especially the smallest of a litter of pigs 3. a person of small stature • runtiness noun • runtish adjective • runty adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a small pig, esp. the smallest in a litter. 2 a weakling; an undersized person. 3 a large domestic pigeon. 4 a small ox or cow, esp. of various Scottish Highland or Welsh breeds. Derivatives: runty adj. Etymology: 16th c.: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Runt Runt, n. [Written also rant.] [Scot. runt an old cow, an old, withered woman, a hardened stem or stalk, the trunk of a tree; cf. D. rund a bullock, an ox or cow, G. rind. Cf. Rother, a.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any animal which is unusually small, as compared with others of its kind; -- applied particularly to domestic animals. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A variety of domestic pigeon, related to the barb and carrier. 3. A dwarf; also, a mean, despicable, boorish person; -- used opprobriously. Before I buy a bargain of such runts, I'll buy a college for bears, and live among 'em. --Beau. & Fl. 4. The dead stump of a tree; also, the stem of a plant. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell. Neither young poles nor old runts are durable. --Holland.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(runts) The runt of a group of animals born to the same mother at the same time is the smallest and weakest of them. Animals reject the runt of the litter. N-COUNT: oft N of n

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A short squat man or woman: from the small cattle called Welsh runts.

Moby Thesaurus

Lilliputian, Tom Thumb, a nobody, a nothing, bantam, banty, brownie, button, chit, cipher, common man, diminutive, dummy, dwarf, elf, featherweight, figurehead, fingerling, gnome, homunculus, insignificancy, jackstraw, lightweight, lilliputian, little fellow, little guy, man of straw, manikin, mediocrity, midge, midget, mini, minikin, minnow, minny, mouse, nebbish, nobody one knows, nonentity, nubbin, obscurity, peewee, pip-squeak, pony, punk, pygmy, scrub, shrimp, slip, small fry, small potato, small potatoes, snip, snippet, squirt, squit, tit, wart, whiffet, whippersnapper, wisp