dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
One who discovers something new based on others' achievements
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
người khám phá ra điều mới dựa trên thành tựu của người khác
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a small person on large people's shoulders
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The young scientist was a dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants, building upon the groundbreaking work of her predecessors
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants” mean?
One who discovers something new based on others' achievements Literally: a small person on large people's shoulders
Is “dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.