▪ I. dumpy, a.1
(ˈdʌmpɪ)
[f. dump n.1 + -y.]
Melancholy, dejected, ‘in the dumps’.
| a 1618 Sylvester Tobacco Battered 643 For Dumpier none then the Tobacconer; None sadder then the gladdest of their Host. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Dumpy, sullen. a 1845 Hood John Trot vi, And left her to her widowhood, Of course more dumpy still. |
▪ II. dumpy, a.2 (n.)
(ˈdʌmpɪ)
[Appears in middle of 18th c.: not in Johnson 1755–87, nor in Ash 1775; in Todd 1818. Its form is that of a derivative from a n. dump (cf. lump-y, stump-y); but the n. dump2, with which it goes, is known only later, and appears to be a back-formation from this adj. It is not obvious how these words can be connected with the other ns. and vbs. of same form.]
Short and stout; deficient in length or stature.
| 1750 Student II. 225 Short, dumpy, gouty, crooked fingers. 1808 Scott Let. to G. Ellis 23 Feb. in Lockhart, The 5th canto of a certain dumpy quarto, entitled Marmion. 1819 Byron Juan i. lxi, Her stature tall—I hate a dumpy woman. 1856 Mayhew Rhine 44 Everlasting rows of dumpy willows. |
b. dumpy level: a spirit-level used in surveying, having a short telescope with a large aperture.
| 1838 P. Bruff Engineer. Field-work 137 Gravatt's Improved Level, commonly called (from its appearance) the Dumpy Level. 1885 Athenæum 23 May 664 On levelling and the use of the dumpy level. |
B. n. a. A dumpy person or animal; spec. one of a breed of very short-legged fowls; in pl. a nickname for the Nineteenth Hussars. b. Short for dumpy level; see above.
| 1808–18 Jamieson, Dumpy, adj. Short and thick; also used as a s. 1868 Who breaks, pays (Tauchn.) 39 (Hoppe) The daughter is a dumpy. 1878 Trimen Regiments Brit. Army 38 [The Nineteenth Hussars] nicknamed ‘the Dumpies’ when raised, from the diminutive size of the men. 1885 Bazaar 30 Mar. 1267/2 Dumpies' eggs, genuine Scotch breed. |