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runt

 - 4 dictionary results
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runt

  [ruhnt] ,
Use runt in a Sentence
–noun
1. an animal that is small or stunted as compared with others of its kind.
2. the smallest or weakest of a litter, esp. of pigs or puppies.
3. a person who is small and contemptible: That runt causes most of the trouble at the meetings.
4. British Dialect.
a. an old or decayed tree stump.
b. an old cow or ox.
c. an ugly old woman; hag.
Origin:
1495–1505; perh. < D rund bull, cow, ox; akin to G Rind cattle

Related forms:
runtish, adjective
runt⋅ish⋅ly, adverb
runt⋅ish⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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runt   (rŭnt)   
n.  

  1. An undersized animal, especially the smallest animal of a litter.

  2. Offensive A short person.


[Origin unknown.]
runt'i·ness n., runt'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
runt

  1. n.
    a small person; someone whose growth has been stunted. (Also a rude term of address.) : He can't play basketball. He's just a runt.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

runt 
1501, "old or decayed tree stump," of unknown origin. Meaning extended to "small ox or cow" (1549) and by 1614 to other animals and people. Specific Amer.Eng. sense of "smallest of a litter" (esp. of pigs) is attested from 1841. Some see a connection to M.Du. runt "ox," but OED thinks this unlikely, and pronounces the word "of obscure origin."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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