| 释义 |
midget|ˈmɪdʒɪt|
[f. midge + -et1.]
1. An extremely small person; spec. such a person publicly exhibited as a curiosity.
1865W. Cornw. Words in Jrnl. R. Inst. Cornw. Apr. 50 Midget, very small, a mite. 1869Mrs. Stowe Old Town Folks xvi. (1870) 159 Now you know Parson Kendall's a little midget of a man. 1884Pall Mall G. 22 Aug. 10/2 A child..which had been exhibited by a showman..as the smallest ‘Midget’ in the world. 1892E. Reeves Homeward Bound 7 There are 120 saloon passengers, adults, 40 children, and 2 ‘midgets’ on board. 1903Review of Rev. Apr. 347 The undersized midgets of new recruits.
2. A Canadian name for the Sand-fly.
1848in Bartlett Dict. Amer.
3. More fully midget-photograph. The trade name for a very small size of photographic portrait.
1888Lady 25 Oct. 374/3 A smaller frame, screen shape,..to hold six ‘midget’ photographs.
4. A small vehicle, aircraft, etc.
1930Daily Express 8 Sept. 3/7 The midgets will function as destroyers, and the heavier tanks will discharge the duties of land battleships. 1933M. Arlen Man's Mortality ii. 32 He climbed into the midget [sc. aircraft], and called out to the cadet: ‘Altitude?’
5. attrib.
a. In sense ‘weak, puny’, as midget effort.
b. ‘small, small-scale, tiny’, as midget submarine, midget warship, etc.; midget golf, a form of miniature golf, usually played indoors; so midget-golf course, etc.
1908Daily Chron. 7 Aug. 4/4 The spiritual intelligences..must..laugh at our serious midget efforts to comprehend and explain the circumambient infinite. 1922Joyce Ulysses 620 Marcella, the midget queen. 1930Daily Express 6 Nov. 3/7 Sydney's midget golf boom. 1930Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 23/6 (Advt.), An 18-hole midget golf course complete. 1933Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 22/1 (caption) Midget submarine ready for its first test. 1934Discovery Nov. 324/2 The combined radio-gramophone and deaf-aid..includes..three midget valves. 1942Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 18 Mar.–9 June 26 (caption) One of the Royal Navy's midget war ships, a motor gun-boat, on patrol duty round the coasts of Britain. 1945Jane's Fighting Ships 1943–44 316/2 At least two classes of Japanese midget submarines are believed to exist. 1966T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 ii. 30 He and the kid follow the old regiment to Gallipoli, where the father somehow builds a midget submarine. 1972Mainichi Daily News (Japan) 7 Nov. 6/3 The National Federation of Midget Automobile Manufacturers' and Dealers' Associations revealed..that a total of 78,055 new midget automobiles were registered in October. Ibid., Demand for midget commercial vehicles would increase. |