Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hop-o'-my-thumb

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.84 in modern English

Syllables: hop-o'-my-thumb
IPA

28

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A very small person or creature.

Colloquial; Dated

Example Sentences

"1830, Uncredited (John Poole), The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, Part 1: Original Papers, page 81, As to changing them for a pack of your little hop-o'-my-thumbs, no bigger than the one you lent me t'other night — ! suppose I should ask you to let me have the mare you rode to cover o'Thursday — and a clever mare she is, […] ."
""In the first place,” answered Hobbleday, somewhat tartly, “I suppose our Daubson, who painted the famous grenadier in Yawkins's skittle-ground, knew very well what he was about: he wasn't going to paint hop-o'-my-thumbs that might be mistaken for drummer-boys.[…]""
""[…]And who are these little hop-o'-my-thumbs?” as Arun and Is jumped down from the cart."

Etymology

From the idea that such a person could hop over somebody's thumb; in common use in the 16th century.

Usage

Inflected Forms

hop-o'-my-thumbs (plural)

Phrases

Tom Thumb

Frequently Paired Words

lilliputian Thumbelina Tom Thumb

Questions

What does hop-o'-my-thumb mean?: A very small person or creature.
Where does hop-o'-my-thumb come from?: From the idea that such a person could hop over somebody's thumb; in common use in the 16th century.

How to pronounce hop-o'-my-thumb

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