munchkin

[muhnch-kin] /ˈmʌntʃ kɪn/
noun, (often initial capital letter)
1.
a small person, especially one who is dwarfish or elfin in appearance.
2.
Informal. a child:
The munchkins enjoyed holding and feeding the animals in the petting zoo.
Origin of munchkin
after the Munchkins, a dwarflike race portrayed in L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and other fantasy novels
Examples from the Web for munchkin
Contemporary Examples
Historical Examples
  • Button-Bright was not quite as big as the munchkin boy, but he wore the same kind of clothes, only they were of different colors.

    The Lost Princess of Oz L. Frank Baum
  • They live high up on the mountain, and the good munchkin Country, where the fruits and flowers grow, is just the other side.

    The Patchwork Girl of Oz L. Frank Baum
  • The munchkin boy pointed to some words painted on the wall of rock beside them, which Dorothy had not noticed.

    The Patchwork Girl of Oz L. Frank Baum
  • So there is little wonder that the pulses of the munchkin boy beat fast as he and his companions stood facing the cave.

    The Patchwork Girl of Oz L. Frank Baum
  • Because I eat up all the honey-bees which the munchkin farmers who live around here keep to make them honey.

    The Patchwork Girl of Oz L. Frank Baum
  • The munchkin boy has a loyal and generous heart and has done his best to restore Unc Nunkie to life.

    The Patchwork Girl of Oz L. Frank Baum
  • Then he turned to Dorothy and added: "What will become of the munchkin boy?"

    The Patchwork Girl of Oz L. Frank Baum
  • It had the head of a young man—evidently a munchkin—with a pleasant face and hair neatly combed.

    The Tin Woodman of Oz L. Frank Baum
  • There are two roads of yellow bricks through the munchkin Country, but the one we followed is the best of the two.

    The Patchwork Girl of Oz L. Frank Baum
British Dictionary definitions for munchkin

munchkin

/ˈmʌntʃkɪn/
noun
1.
(informal, mainly US) an undersized person or a child, esp an appealing one
2.
a breed of medium-sized cat with short legs
Word Origin
C20: from the Munchkins, a dwarfish race of people in L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
Word Origin and History for munchkin

Munchkin

n.

1900, coined by U.S. author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." He never explained how he got the word. The word most like it is perhaps mutchkin, an old Scottish measure of capacity for liquids, which was used by Scott. (It comes from Middle Dutch mutseken, originally "a little cap," from mutse "cap," earlier almutse "amice, hood, headdress," from Latin amictus "mantle, cloak," noun use of past participle of amicire "to wrap, throw around," a compound from ambi- (see ambi-) + iacere (see jet (v.)).

Slang definitions & phrases for munchkin

Munchkin

noun

A low-ranking employee, staff member, etc; a menial: Justice Department spokesman Thomas De Cair sniffed that Honegger was ''a low-level Munchkin''/ Most of the munchkins, junior campaign aides, won't make it to the transition staff

[1970s+; fr the name of the dwarfish helpers in L Frank Baum's 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]

munchkin in Technology


/muhnch'kin/ [Squeaky-voiced little people in L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz"] A teenage-or-younger micro enthusiast hacking BASIC or something else equally constricted. A term of mild derision - munchkins are annoying but some grow up to be hackers after passing through a larval stage. The term urchin is also used. See also wannabee, bitty box.
[Jargon File]