[f. THUMB sb. + -LING: cf. Ger. däumling in same sense.] A diminutive being; a dwarf, pigmy; a Tom Thumb or Hop-o’-my-thumb.
1867. Contemp. Rev., Oct., 50. Thumblings and Fingerlings whom the Pygmies have enslaved.
1879. M. D. Conway, Demonol., I. II. vi. 163. The skill with which some little Jack or Thumbling overcomes his adversary.
1884. Marg. B. Peeke, in Chicago Advance, 26 June. It was well for the little thumbling that he did not see the smile on his sister’s and brother’s faces.
