A general name for an animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size of the species or kind. A man that never grows beyond two or three feet in highth, is a dwarf. This word when used alone usually refers to the human species, but sometimes to other animals. When it is applied to plants, it is more generally used in composition; as a dwarf-tree; dwarf-elder.

An attendant on a lady or knight in romances.

To hinder from growing to the natural size; to lessen; to make or keep small.