runt

R1U1N1T1
US, UK/ɹʌnt/Northern England/ɹʊnt/

noun

The smallest animal of a litter.

“the runt of the family”

UncommonScrabble 4

Meanings

nounrunt (plural runts)

plural runts

  1. The smallest animal of a litter.

    Sometimes, as we have seen, one member of a litter is a runt, much smaller than the rest. He is unable to fight for food as strongly as the rest, and runts often die. We have considered the conditions under which it would actually pay a mother to let a runt die.

    1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, Kindle edition, OUP Oxford, published 2016, page 168
  2. broadlyThe smallest child in the family.

    the runt of the family

  3. Undersized or stunted plant, animal or person.

    Synonyms: dwarf

  4. slangAn uninfluential or unimportant person; a nobody.
  5. computingAn Ethernet packet that does not meet the medium's minimum packet size of 64 bytes.
  6. mediaA single word (or portion of a hyphenated word) that appears as the last line of a paragraph.
  7. A breed of pigeon related to the carrier pigeon.
  8. UKdialectalobsoleteA hardened stem or stalk of a plant.

    Neither young poles nor old runts are durable

    1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XVI.]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC
  9. A bow.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounUndersized or stunted plant, animal or person.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

noundisparaging terms for small people

Broader
small person

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

The OED classifies this word as "of obscure origin". Some see a connection to Middle Dutch runt (“ox”), but the OED considers this to be unlikely. Possibly connected to Icelandic hrotti meaning "brute".

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian изтърсак, джудже
  • изтърсак (iztărsak)smallest child in the family
  • джудже (džudže)undersized or stunted plant, animal or person
Czech nedochůdče, benjamínek
  • nedochůdčethe smallest or the weakest animal of a litter or a pack
  • benjamíneksmallest child in the family
  • skrčekundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • zakrslíkundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • zákrsekundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
Finnish pahnanpohjimmainen, kuopus
  • pahnanpohjimmainenthe smallest or the weakest animal of a litter or a pack
  • kuopussmallest child in the family
  • pätkäundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • tynkäundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • rääpäleundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • käppänäundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • jäännesmall Ethernet packet
  • orposanasingle word that appears as the last line of a paragraph
  • orposingle word that appears as the last line of a paragraph
French avorton, avorton
  • avortonthe smallest or the weakest animal of a litter or a pack
  • avortonundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
German Zwerg, Kümmerling
  • Zwergthe smallest or the weakest animal of a litter or a pack
  • Kümmerlingthe smallest or the weakest animal of a litter or a pack
  • Kümmererthe smallest or the weakest animal of a litter or a pack
  • Zwergundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • Winzlingundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • Kümmerlingundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • Kümmererundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
Hungarian törpe, kóró
  • törpeundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • kóróhardened stem or stalk of a plant
Irish abhaicín
  • abhaicínundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
Italian piccoletto
  • piccolettosmallest child in the family
Japanese ちび
  • ちび (chibi)undersized or stunted plant, animal or person
Korean 작음, 꼬마
  • 작음 (jageum)undersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • 꼬마 (kkoma)undersized or stunted plant, animal or person
Māori tīmohea
  • tīmoheaundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
Polish cherlak
  • cherlakundersized or stunted plant, animal or person
Russian после́дыш, недоро́сток
  • после́дыш (poslédyš)the smallest or the weakest animal of a litter or a pack
  • недоро́сток (nedoróstok)undersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • короты́шка (korotýška)undersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • ка́рлик (kárlik)undersized or stunted plant, animal or person
  • ши́бздик (šíbzdik)undersized or stunted plant, animal or person
Scottish Gaelic an t-isean deireadh linn
  • an t-isean deireadh linnsmallest child in the family
Spanish benjamín, pequeñajo
  • benjamínthe smallest or the weakest animal of a litter or a pack
  • pequeñajothe smallest or the weakest animal of a litter or a pack
  • benjamínsmallest child in the family
  • alfeñiquesmallest child in the family
  • shocoyotesmallest child in the family
  • enanoundersized or stunted plant, animal or person

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with runt

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

runt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/runt

MLA

“runt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/runt. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “runt,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/runt.

Source: runt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.