English

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Etymology

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An American World War II (c. 1942–1943) workplace safety poster featuring gremlins (sense 1.2).

Uncertain; the following etymologies have been suggested:[1]

The word was popularized, especially in the United States, by the children’s novel The Gremlins (1943) by the British author Roald Dahl (1916–1990),[1] in which gremlins sabotage Royal Air Force aircraft in revenge for the destruction of their forest home to make way for an aircraft factory; the creatures later join forces with the British to fight the Nazis.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gremlin (plural gremlins)

  1. (originally British, aviation, Royal Air Force slang) [from 1920s]
    1. (obsolete) A contemptible person.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonentity
    2. An imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined, for example, to damage or dismantle machinery.
      • 1963, Arthur C Clarke, chapter 8, in Glidepath, New York: Simon and Schuster, pages 72-73:
        Like Abominable Snowmen, gremlins have never actually been seen; but nobody who works with electronic gear doubts the existence of these mischievous and elusive entities. There are too many malfunctions and failures that can have no other explanation.
      • 2023 November 29, Richard Foster, “Tyne & Wear Metro goes with the flow”, in RAIL, number 997, page 34:
        Crucial time was saved by the fact Nexus didn't require a Transport & Works Act. Nevertheless, other gremlins kept raising their heads.
  2. (by extension)
    1. Any mysterious, unknown source of mischief or trouble, or the problem created thereby.
      Synonyms: bug, glitch, hitch
      We rechecked everything, and we suspect gremlins in the database.
    2. (surfing, skateboarding, slang) A young, inexperienced surfer or skateboarder, regarded as a nuisance. [from 1960s]
      Synonyms: grem, gremmie, gremmy, grommet

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 gremlin, n.”, in OED Online  , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2019; gremlin, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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