From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Runt \Runt\, noun [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}, adjective]
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: disparaging terms for small people [syn: {shrimp}, {peewee}, {half-pint}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
61 Moby Thesaurus words for "runt": 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
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