Tom Thumbn.

Brit.

/ˌtɒm ˈθʌm/, U.S.

/ˌtɑm ˈθəm/

Forms: 1500s– Tom Thumb, 1600s Tom Thumbe, 1600s Tom Thum.

Origin: From a proper name, combined with an English element. Etymons: proper name Tom , thumb n.

Etymology: < the male forename Tom (see Tom n.¹) + thumb n. (compare sense 3 at that entry), with reference to small stature.

a. The name of the hero of an English folk tale, a ploughman's son who was only as tall as his father's thumb, used allusively and in similative expressions to refer to small size or stature; (hence) a name for a very short man.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > bodily height > shortness > [noun] > person

dwarfeOE

congeonc1230

go-by-ground?a1300

smalla1300

shrimpc1386

griga1400

gruba1400

murche1440

nirvil1440

mitinga1450

witherling1528

wretchocka1529

elf1530

hop-o'-my-thumb1530

pygmy1533

little person1538

manikin1540

mankin1552

dandiprat1556

yrle1568

grundy1570

Jack Sprat1570

squall1570

manling1573

Tom Thumb1579

pinka1585

squib1586

screaling1594

giant-dwarf1598

twattle1598

agate1600

minimus1600

cock sparrow1602

dapperling1611

modicum1611

scrub1611

sesquipedalian1615

dwarflinga1618

wretchcock1641

homuncio1643

whip-handle1653

homuncule1656

whippersnapper1674

chitterling1675

sprite1684

carliea1689

urling1691

wirling1691

dwarf man1699

poppet1699

durgan1706

short-arse1706

tomtit1706

Lilliputian1726

wallydraigle1736

midge1757

minikin1761

squeeze-crab1785

minimum1796

niff-naff1808

titman1818

teetotum1822

squita1825

cradden1825

nyaff1825

weed1825

pinkeen1850

fingerling1864

Lilliput1867

thumbling1867

midget1869

inch1884

shorty1888

titch1888

skimpling1890

stub1890

scrap1898

pygmoid1922

lofty1933

peewee1935

smidgen1952

pint-size1954

pint-sized1973

munchkin1974

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of little importance

nekardc1450

man of clouts, king of clouts1467

dandiprat1556

Tom Thumb1579

minim1590

pygmy?1592

titmouse1596

gnatling1614

rye straw1615

nazzard1619

whisk1629

whifling1640

snifty1660

whippersnapper1674

nick-ninny1699

little me1711

squita1825

lightweight1831

lay figure1835

whiffet1839

pinkeen1850

huckleberry1868

bush leaguer1906

knibloch1915

1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 235 They feigned him to be a little child like Tom Thumb.

1640 H. Glapthorne Hollander iii. i. sig. E2^v What does this Tom Thumbe meane troe?

1648 Fraction in Assembly 7 The Divill a Chimney was there, or a hole bigg enough, for Tom Thumbe to have hid himselfe in.

1727 M. Davys Accomplish'd Rake 68 If he could gain either of the Ladies Consent to run away with a Tom Thumb he should pity their want of Judgment.

1848 J. F. Cooper Jack Tier I. iii. 79 I hardly ever saw so droll a being!.. The man might make a fortune as a show. Tom Thumb is scarcely a greater curiosity.

1875 D. R. Locke Eastern Fruit on Western Dishes xi. 108 How many hundreds of thousands of people paid half-dollars to see that pigmy, Tom Thumb, and those solemn, spirit-depressing curiosities, the Siamese Twins?

1967 Punch 4 Jan. 1/2 We need minimen. If we could breed a population of Tom Thumbs the world's food problem would instantly disappear.

2013 C. McCullough Bittersweet (2015) 171 The only sight that makes people want to laugh more than a tiny wife with a lanky husband is the sight of Tom Thumb and his wife.

b. A petty, insignificant, or unimportant person; esp. a person of high rank or status who lacks ability, influence, or real power.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > one who has no power or influence

unmight?a1300

man of clouts, king of clouts1467

Tom Thumb1646

figurehead1883

1646 J. Lewis Contempl. upon these Times i. 15 It is but a sorry courage, that cannot against any difficulty or danger..reare up an heroick heart, and think him no more then a Tom Thumb against Christ and his Kingdome.

1665 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 93 Jan. 20. 1651. they Voted our Tom Thombs a free State forsooth, and Commonwealth.

1729 E. Ward Apollo's Maggot in his Cups 11 Calliope, Terpsichore, Erato and Urania, All join'd..To punish poor Britannia, In raising up a new Tom Thumb, To mortify her Poets, Whose lofty Genius should become A terror to all Low-wits.

1794 A. Watson Anti-Jacobin x. 66 What great atchievements we are told, And martial airs of Tom Thumbs bold.

1834 W. Weir & G. Allan Life Sir Walter Scott iii. 223 Whatever annoyance he might experience from the petulant parodists and waspish Tom Thumbs of criticism.

1849 Bradford Observer 14 June 5/1 In spite of the multitude of little things distinguishing his career, he is a mere Tom Thumb, whose brains might repose commodiously in Queen Mab's hazel-nut chariot.

1892 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Weekly Gaz. 8 Sept. 4/2 The Democratic orators, from the Tom Thumbs of the village platform up to the senatorial magnates at Washington have denounced the McKinley bill.

1916 Shoe & Leather Jrnl. 15 May 33/1 Some of these intellectual Tom Thumbs are so exceedingly diminutive that if ten thousand of them were put in a peanut shell it would still rattle.

2000 Scunthorpe Evening Tel. (Nexis) 27 June 14 Mr Morley can draw his enhanced salary and continue being rather a Tom Thumb than a giant in this political world.

a. A dwarf variety of a vegetable (as cabbage, lettuce, maize) or of a garden flower (as geranium, antirrhinum, or nasturtium).

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > geranium and allied flowers > geranium

canker1559

bloody cranesbill1634

geranium1760

scarlet geranium1760

pelargonium1813

Tom Thumb1847

fish geranium1865

the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > cabbage or kale > [noun] > cabbage > other types of cabbage

brisoka1340

rape-cole1597

loaf-cabbage1727

sugar-loaf1766

drumhead1783

sugar-loaf cabbage1786

Yorkshire cabbage1786

York1823

Tom Thumb1847

cut-and-come-again1888

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > leaf vegetables > lettuce > types of

cabbage lettuce?1537

Roman lettuce1577

minion1693

passion-lettuce1704

cos lettuce1706

shell-lettuce1707

lettuce cabbage1731

Silesia1731

rabbit food1772

Tom Thumb1847

romaine1865

oak leaf1892

iceberg lettuce1893

mignonette1923

lollo biondo1987

lollo rosso1987

1847 Caledonian Mercury 5 Aug. Among the plants for exhibition were..a cactus and scarlet geranium (Tom Thumb), from Bilston Brae.

1866 R. M. Copeland Country Life (ed. 5) lxxii. 664 All the Tom Thumbs and Horseshoes will bear the sun, also the Rose Geranium.

1869 Amateur Cultivator's Guide Flower & Kitchen Gardens (Washburn & Co.) 140 A Nasturtion, with the free-blooming, compact habit of all the Tom-Thumb Nasturtions.

1898 Westm. Gaz. 29 Oct. 1/3 He had gone on sowing radishes and broccoli—making odd signs with pieces of stick and coloured paper to mark ‘tom-thumb’ or ‘giant’, ‘early’ or ‘late’ [varieties].

1943 H. J. Massingham Men of Earth viii. 142 Tom Thumbs [i.e. lettuces] were also planted among the shallots.

2006 L. Coulter Gardening Heirloom Seeds 39 Lettuces like Tom Thumb were traditionally pickled with cloves to preserve them through the winter.

†b. A dwarf variety of edible oyster found in British waters. Also called button oyster. Obsolete.The Tom Thumb appears to be a slow-growing form of the native oyster, Ostrea edulis.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > taxonomy > taxon > [noun] > variety or sub-variety > dwarf variety

Tom Thumb1876

1876 Rep. Select Comm. Oyster Fisheries 49/2 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 345) XII. 1 Those oysters which you call buttons, I believe, or which some people call Tom Thumbs.

1876 Essex Standard 31 Mar. 3/3 Colonel Learmonth. Do you meet with the ‘Tom Thumb’ oysters in your Fishery? Witness. There will be some stumpy ones.

1893 Bull. U.S. Fish Comm. 1891 11 400 The Burnham native, ‘Button oyster’, or ‘Tom Thumb’ is highly esteemed; it is remarkably small, stout, and heavy, and appears to be of extremely slow growth.

3. English regional (southern). Also Tom Thumbs. Any of various small, low-growing wild plants, as meadow vetchling ( Lathyrus pratense), hop trefoil ( Trifolium campestre), and bird's-foot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus).

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > names applied to various plants > [noun]

heatha700

beeworteOE

leversc725

springworteOE

clotec1000

halswortc1000

sengreenc1000

bottle?a1200

bird's-tonguea1300

bloodworta1300

faverolea1300

vetchc1300

pimpernel1378

oniona1398

bird's nest?a1425

adder's grassc1450

cockheada1500

ambrosia1525

fleawort1548

son before the father1552

crow-toe1562

basil1578

bird's-foot1578

bloodroot1578

throatwort1578

phalangium1608

yew1653

chalcedon1664

dittany1676

bleeding heart1691

felon-wort1706

hedgehog1712

land caltrops1727

old man's beard1731

loosestrife1760

Solomon's seal1760

fireweed1764

desert rose1792

star of Bethlehem1793

hen and chickens1794

Aaron's beard1820

felon-grass1824

arrowroot1835

snake-root1856

firebush1858

tick-seed1860

bird's eye1863

burning bush1866

rat-tail1871

lamb's earsa1876

lamb's tongue plant1882

tar-weed1884

Tom Thumb1886

parrotbeak1890

stinkweed1932

1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names App. Tom Thumb, Lathyrus pratensis. Berks... Suss.

1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names App. Tom Thumb,..Lotus corniculatus. Oxf.

1904 A. H. Cocks Vocab. in Rec. Bucks 9 168 Tom Thumb, the lotus, or bird's foot clover (Lotus corniculatus). Also called Lady's-fingers or King-fingers.

1949 L. J. F. Brimble Floral Year viii. xliv. 436 Children like to gather the flowers and have given them many nicknames such as Tom Thumb, fingers and thumbs, shoes and stockings, and so forth.

1955 G. Grigson Englishman's Flora (1996) 142 So far as it has been noticed at all, Meadow Vetchling has been taken both as a Vetch..and as a plant like enough to Lotus corniculatus to share the names Tom Thumb, Lady's Fingers, and Lady's Slippers.

1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 225/2 Hop trefoil, T[rifolium] campestre (VN: Tom Thumbs), has small yellow flowers a little like miniature hops and, like hops, these turn brown as they age.

4. British, Australian, and New Zealand slang (originally Military). [Rhyming slang.] Rum. Now historical and rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > rum > [noun]

kill-devilc1651

rumbullionc1651

rumbustion1652

rum1654

molasses1772

bubbly1902

Tom Thumb1925

1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 287 Tom Thumb, rum.

1933 Beaudesert (Queensland) Times 28 Apr. He could not recall ever having seen a Digger on Anzac Day ask for anything without he got it, except, perhaps, a drop of Tom Thumb, and that sometimes is just as well.

1933 S. Rogerson Twelve Days iv. 80 This and a little drop of ‘Tom Thumb’ will go down grand.

1940 Manch. Guardian 3 Oct. 3/5 The rot had begun twenty-five years ago. Tea was then almost always known as ‘char’, but even so I can well remember a sergeant's saying he had got some ‘Tom Thumb in his i-diddle-dee’, when he had scrounged some rum and put it in his tea.

?1973 R. Galton & A. Simpson Best of Steptoe & Son (1989) 137 I thought I'd get a crate of brown ale, a crate of light ale, a bottle of Tom Thumb, a bottle of gold watch, and a bottle of Vera Lynn, in case the vicar comes.

2009 A. Weeks Tea, Rum & Fags iii. 27 Frank Dunham and his chums were stretcher-bearers. They thought that the ‘beaucoup Tom Thumb’ being dished out with the cocoa at 3am on 7 June 1917..would hamper their work the next day.

Compounds

C1. attributive (in sense 1), designating something typical of or suitable for Tom Thumb, esp. in being very small.

ΚΠ

1789 E. Craven Journey through Crimea xv. 44 His country's disappointment to assuage, He..A Tom-Thumb story of this siege relates.

1806 Naval Chron. 15 159 The Tom Thumb egotism..of the Corsican Usurper.

1885 All Year Round 3 Jan. 299/1 Our attention is drawn from him by a tiny Tom-Thumb carriage, drawn by two magnificent up-country goats.

1890 D. C. Beard Amer. Boy's Handy Bk. xxx. 281 A real little ‘Tom Thumb ice-yacht’ can be built to hold a crew of one.

1949 T. Williams Let. Nov. in Five O'Clock Angel (1991) 30 We have a lovely little place here, [a] sort of Tom Thumb mansion.

2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 3 Nov. c1/1 People spend so much time flailing away at their tiny Tom Thumb keyboards.

C2. U.S. attributive. Designating a form of golf played on a small-scale course or a novelty putting course consisting of a variety of obstacles (frequently in Tom Thumb Golf); of or relating to this form of golf, as Tom Thumb golf course, Tom Thumb tournament, etc. Now historical.Tom Thumb golf courses were patented and manufactured by Garnet Carter, proprietor of the Fairyland Inn in Chattanooga Tennessee where the first such course opened in 1928. Tom Thumb golf is now usually called crazy golf, miniature golf, or minigolf.

ΚΠ

1928 N.Y. Times 17 Oct. 28/6 The Gingerbread House of Hansel and Gretel overlooks a Tom Thumb golf course.

1930 La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune & Leader-Press 17 Aug. 11/8 Pairings for the mixed doubles of the Tom Thumb tournament..were announced Saturday.

1930 C. Porter Great Indoors in Compl. Lyrics (1983) 102 All my dearest chums to the country go tearing off, to improve their frames playing damn-fool games such as polo and Tom Thumb golf.

1953 Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. 39 796 The contributions of Chattanooga to life in America have been many, including such unique ones as Tom Thumb Golf.

1995 D. Gelbert Great Delaware Sports Bk. i. 33 In Newark a Tom Thumb course was laid out on the University Green.

2004 T. Hollis Florida's Miracle Strip iv. 88 Carter turned Tom Thumb Golf into a national fad during the early days of the Great Depression.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	tom thumb
释义	Tom Thumbn. Brit. /ˌtɒm ˈθʌm/, U.S. /ˌtɑm ˈθəm/ Forms: 1500s– Tom Thumb, 1600s Tom Thumbe, 1600s Tom Thum. Origin: From a proper name, combined with an English element. Etymons: proper name Tom , thumb n. Etymology: < the male forename Tom (see Tom n.¹) + thumb n. (compare sense 3 at that entry), with reference to small stature. 1. a. The name of the hero of an English folk tale, a ploughman's son who was only as tall as his father's thumb, used allusively and in similative expressions to refer to small size or stature; (hence) a name for a very short man. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > bodily height > shortness > [noun] > person dwarfeOE congeonc1230 go-by-ground?a1300 smalla1300 shrimpc1386 griga1400 gruba1400 murche1440 nirvil1440 mitinga1450 witherling1528 wretchocka1529 elf1530 hop-o'-my-thumb1530 pygmy1533 little person1538 manikin1540 mankin1552 dandiprat1556 yrle1568 grundy1570 Jack Sprat1570 squall1570 manling1573 Tom Thumb1579 pinka1585 squib1586 screaling1594 giant-dwarf1598 twattle1598 agate1600 minimus1600 cock sparrow1602 dapperling1611 modicum1611 scrub1611 sesquipedalian1615 dwarflinga1618 wretchcock1641 homuncio1643 whip-handle1653 homuncule1656 whippersnapper1674 chitterling1675 sprite1684 carliea1689 urling1691 wirling1691 dwarf man1699 poppet1699 durgan1706 short-arse1706 tomtit1706 Lilliputian1726 wallydraigle1736 midge1757 minikin1761 squeeze-crab1785 minimum1796 niff-naff1808 titman1818 teetotum1822 squita1825 cradden1825 nyaff1825 weed1825 pinkeen1850 fingerling1864 Lilliput1867 thumbling1867 midget1869 inch1884 shorty1888 titch1888 skimpling1890 stub1890 scrap1898 pygmoid1922 lofty1933 peewee1935 smidgen1952 pint-size1954 pint-sized1973 munchkin1974 the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of little importance nekardc1450 man of clouts, king of clouts1467 dandiprat1556 Tom Thumb1579 minim1590 pygmy?1592 titmouse1596 gnatling1614 rye straw1615 nazzard1619 whisk1629 whifling1640 snifty1660 whippersnapper1674 nick-ninny1699 little me1711 squita1825 lightweight1831 lay figure1835 whiffet1839 pinkeen1850 huckleberry1868 bush leaguer1906 knibloch1915 1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 235 They feigned him to be a little child like Tom Thumb. 1640 H. Glapthorne Hollander iii. i. sig. E2^v What does this Tom Thumbe meane troe? 1648 Fraction in Assembly 7 The Divill a Chimney was there, or a hole bigg enough, for Tom Thumbe to have hid himselfe in. 1727 M. Davys Accomplish'd Rake 68 If he could gain either of the Ladies Consent to run away with a Tom Thumb he should pity their want of Judgment. 1848 J. F. Cooper Jack Tier I. iii. 79 I hardly ever saw so droll a being!.. The man might make a fortune as a show. Tom Thumb is scarcely a greater curiosity. 1875 D. R. Locke Eastern Fruit on Western Dishes xi. 108 How many hundreds of thousands of people paid half-dollars to see that pigmy, Tom Thumb, and those solemn, spirit-depressing curiosities, the Siamese Twins? 1967 Punch 4 Jan. 1/2 We need minimen. If we could breed a population of Tom Thumbs the world's food problem would instantly disappear. 2013 C. McCullough Bittersweet (2015) 171 The only sight that makes people want to laugh more than a tiny wife with a lanky husband is the sight of Tom Thumb and his wife. b. A petty, insignificant, or unimportant person; esp. a person of high rank or status who lacks ability, influence, or real power. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > one who has no power or influence unmight?a1300 man of clouts, king of clouts1467 Tom Thumb1646 figurehead1883 1646 J. Lewis Contempl. upon these Times i. 15 It is but a sorry courage, that cannot against any difficulty or danger..reare up an heroick heart, and think him no more then a Tom Thumb against Christ and his Kingdome. 1665 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 93 Jan. 20. 1651. they Voted our Tom Thombs a free State forsooth, and Commonwealth. 1729 E. Ward Apollo's Maggot in his Cups 11 Calliope, Terpsichore, Erato and Urania, All join'd..To punish poor Britannia, In raising up a new Tom Thumb, To mortify her Poets, Whose lofty Genius should become A terror to all Low-wits. 1794 A. Watson Anti-Jacobin x. 66 What great atchievements we are told, And martial airs of Tom Thumbs bold. 1834 W. Weir & G. Allan Life Sir Walter Scott iii. 223 Whatever annoyance he might experience from the petulant parodists and waspish Tom Thumbs of criticism. 1849 Bradford Observer 14 June 5/1 In spite of the multitude of little things distinguishing his career, he is a mere Tom Thumb, whose brains might repose commodiously in Queen Mab's hazel-nut chariot. 1892 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Weekly Gaz. 8 Sept. 4/2 The Democratic orators, from the Tom Thumbs of the village platform up to the senatorial magnates at Washington have denounced the McKinley bill. 1916 Shoe & Leather Jrnl. 15 May 33/1 Some of these intellectual Tom Thumbs are so exceedingly diminutive that if ten thousand of them were put in a peanut shell it would still rattle. 2000 Scunthorpe Evening Tel. (Nexis) 27 June 14 Mr Morley can draw his enhanced salary and continue being rather a Tom Thumb than a giant in this political world. 2. a. A dwarf variety of a vegetable (as cabbage, lettuce, maize) or of a garden flower (as geranium, antirrhinum, or nasturtium). ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > geranium and allied flowers > geranium canker1559 bloody cranesbill1634 geranium1760 scarlet geranium1760 pelargonium1813 Tom Thumb1847 fish geranium1865 the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > cabbage or kale > [noun] > cabbage > other types of cabbage brisoka1340 rape-cole1597 loaf-cabbage1727 sugar-loaf1766 drumhead1783 sugar-loaf cabbage1786 Yorkshire cabbage1786 York1823 Tom Thumb1847 cut-and-come-again1888 the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > leaf vegetables > lettuce > types of cabbage lettuce?1537 Roman lettuce1577 minion1693 passion-lettuce1704 cos lettuce1706 shell-lettuce1707 lettuce cabbage1731 Silesia1731 rabbit food1772 Tom Thumb1847 romaine1865 oak leaf1892 iceberg lettuce1893 mignonette1923 lollo biondo1987 lollo rosso1987 1847 Caledonian Mercury 5 Aug. Among the plants for exhibition were..a cactus and scarlet geranium (Tom Thumb), from Bilston Brae. 1866 R. M. Copeland Country Life (ed. 5) lxxii. 664 All the Tom Thumbs and Horseshoes will bear the sun, also the Rose Geranium. 1869 Amateur Cultivator's Guide Flower & Kitchen Gardens (Washburn & Co.) 140 A Nasturtion, with the free-blooming, compact habit of all the Tom-Thumb Nasturtions. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 29 Oct. 1/3 He had gone on sowing radishes and broccoli—making odd signs with pieces of stick and coloured paper to mark ‘tom-thumb’ or ‘giant’, ‘early’ or ‘late’ [varieties]. 1943 H. J. Massingham Men of Earth viii. 142 Tom Thumbs [i.e. lettuces] were also planted among the shallots. 2006 L. Coulter Gardening Heirloom Seeds 39 Lettuces like Tom Thumb were traditionally pickled with cloves to preserve them through the winter. †b. A dwarf variety of edible oyster found in British waters. Also called button oyster. Obsolete.The Tom Thumb appears to be a slow-growing form of the native oyster, Ostrea edulis. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > taxonomy > taxon > [noun] > variety or sub-variety > dwarf variety Tom Thumb1876 1876 Rep. Select Comm. Oyster Fisheries 49/2 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 345) XII. 1 Those oysters which you call buttons, I believe, or which some people call Tom Thumbs. 1876 Essex Standard 31 Mar. 3/3 Colonel Learmonth. Do you meet with the ‘Tom Thumb’ oysters in your Fishery? Witness. There will be some stumpy ones. 1893 Bull. U.S. Fish Comm. 1891 11 400 The Burnham native, ‘Button oyster’, or ‘Tom Thumb’ is highly esteemed; it is remarkably small, stout, and heavy, and appears to be of extremely slow growth. 3. English regional (southern). Also Tom Thumbs. Any of various small, low-growing wild plants, as meadow vetchling ( Lathyrus pratense), hop trefoil ( Trifolium campestre), and bird's-foot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus). ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > names applied to various plants > [noun] heatha700 beeworteOE leversc725 springworteOE clotec1000 halswortc1000 sengreenc1000 bottle?a1200 bird's-tonguea1300 bloodworta1300 faverolea1300 vetchc1300 pimpernel1378 oniona1398 bird's nest?a1425 adder's grassc1450 cockheada1500 ambrosia1525 fleawort1548 son before the father1552 crow-toe1562 basil1578 bird's-foot1578 bloodroot1578 throatwort1578 phalangium1608 yew1653 chalcedon1664 dittany1676 bleeding heart1691 felon-wort1706 hedgehog1712 land caltrops1727 old man's beard1731 loosestrife1760 Solomon's seal1760 fireweed1764 desert rose1792 star of Bethlehem1793 hen and chickens1794 Aaron's beard1820 felon-grass1824 arrowroot1835 snake-root1856 firebush1858 tick-seed1860 bird's eye1863 burning bush1866 rat-tail1871 lamb's earsa1876 lamb's tongue plant1882 tar-weed1884 Tom Thumb1886 parrotbeak1890 stinkweed1932 1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names App. Tom Thumb, Lathyrus pratensis. Berks... Suss. 1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names App. Tom Thumb,..Lotus corniculatus. Oxf. 1904 A. H. Cocks Vocab. in Rec. Bucks 9 168 Tom Thumb, the lotus, or bird's foot clover (Lotus corniculatus). Also called Lady's-fingers or King-fingers. 1949 L. J. F. Brimble Floral Year viii. xliv. 436 Children like to gather the flowers and have given them many nicknames such as Tom Thumb, fingers and thumbs, shoes and stockings, and so forth. 1955 G. Grigson Englishman's Flora (1996) 142 So far as it has been noticed at all, Meadow Vetchling has been taken both as a Vetch..and as a plant like enough to Lotus corniculatus to share the names Tom Thumb, Lady's Fingers, and Lady's Slippers. 1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 225/2 Hop trefoil, T[rifolium] campestre (VN: Tom Thumbs), has small yellow flowers a little like miniature hops and, like hops, these turn brown as they age. 4. British, Australian, and New Zealand slang (originally Military). [Rhyming slang.] Rum. Now historical and rare. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > rum > [noun] kill-devilc1651 rumbullionc1651 rumbustion1652 rum1654 molasses1772 bubbly1902 Tom Thumb1925 1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 287 Tom Thumb, rum. 1933 Beaudesert (Queensland) Times 28 Apr. He could not recall ever having seen a Digger on Anzac Day ask for anything without he got it, except, perhaps, a drop of Tom Thumb, and that sometimes is just as well. 1933 S. Rogerson Twelve Days iv. 80 This and a little drop of ‘Tom Thumb’ will go down grand. 1940 Manch. Guardian 3 Oct. 3/5 The rot had begun twenty-five years ago. Tea was then almost always known as ‘char’, but even so I can well remember a sergeant's saying he had got some ‘Tom Thumb in his i-diddle-dee’, when he had scrounged some rum and put it in his tea. ?1973 R. Galton & A. Simpson Best of Steptoe & Son (1989) 137 I thought I'd get a crate of brown ale, a crate of light ale, a bottle of Tom Thumb, a bottle of gold watch, and a bottle of Vera Lynn, in case the vicar comes. 2009 A. Weeks Tea, Rum & Fags iii. 27 Frank Dunham and his chums were stretcher-bearers. They thought that the ‘beaucoup Tom Thumb’ being dished out with the cocoa at 3am on 7 June 1917..would hamper their work the next day. Compounds C1. attributive (in sense 1), designating something typical of or suitable for Tom Thumb, esp. in being very small. ΚΠ 1789 E. Craven Journey through Crimea xv. 44 His country's disappointment to assuage, He..A Tom-Thumb story of this siege relates. 1806 Naval Chron. 15 159 The Tom Thumb egotism..of the Corsican Usurper. 1885 All Year Round 3 Jan. 299/1 Our attention is drawn from him by a tiny Tom-Thumb carriage, drawn by two magnificent up-country goats. 1890 D. C. Beard Amer. Boy's Handy Bk. xxx. 281 A real little ‘Tom Thumb ice-yacht’ can be built to hold a crew of one. 1949 T. Williams Let. Nov. in Five O'Clock Angel (1991) 30 We have a lovely little place here, [a] sort of Tom Thumb mansion. 2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 3 Nov. c1/1 People spend so much time flailing away at their tiny Tom Thumb keyboards. C2. U.S. attributive. Designating a form of golf played on a small-scale course or a novelty putting course consisting of a variety of obstacles (frequently in Tom Thumb Golf); of or relating to this form of golf, as Tom Thumb golf course, Tom Thumb tournament, etc. Now historical.Tom Thumb golf courses were patented and manufactured by Garnet Carter, proprietor of the Fairyland Inn in Chattanooga Tennessee where the first such course opened in 1928. Tom Thumb golf is now usually called crazy golf, miniature golf, or minigolf. ΚΠ 1928 N.Y. Times 17 Oct. 28/6 The Gingerbread House of Hansel and Gretel overlooks a Tom Thumb golf course. 1930 La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune & Leader-Press 17 Aug. 11/8 Pairings for the mixed doubles of the Tom Thumb tournament..were announced Saturday. 1930 C. Porter Great Indoors in Compl. Lyrics (1983) 102 All my dearest chums to the country go tearing off, to improve their frames playing damn-fool games such as polo and Tom Thumb golf. 1953 Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. 39 796 The contributions of Chattanooga to life in America have been many, including such unique ones as Tom Thumb Golf. 1995 D. Gelbert Great Delaware Sports Bk. i. 33 In Newark a Tom Thumb course was laid out on the University Green. 2004 T. Hollis Florida's Miracle Strip iv. 88 Carter turned Tom Thumb Golf into a national fad during the early days of the Great Depression. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1579
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