Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A very small midshipman.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • In which our hero and Gascoigne ought to be ashamed of themselves, and did feel what might be called midshipmite compunction.

    Mr. Midshipman Easy Frederick Marryat 1820

  • Mills, who was only a "midshipmite" still, in every sense of the word, accompanying them with a rattling refrain from a pair of ivory castanets which he had purchased for a paper dollar in a curio shop at Canton.

    Crown and Anchor Under the Pen'ant John B. [Illustrator] Greene

  • He hung about its hutch, contemplating its proportions in the exulting, gruesome mood of that midshipmite who seasoned the steamy cauldron, and, no doubt, hummed to himself in

    Last Leaves from Dunk Island 2003

  • The Princess was no less gracious, for all danced with her who chose, from the Lord High Admiral to midshipmite and the crew of the captain's gig.

    Over the Rocky Mountains to Alaska Charles Warren Stoddard 1876

  • Now, there is not much fun in coaling, even when a craft as funny as the _Pinta_ is snuggling up under your quarter, looking more like the Pinafore than ever, with her skylarking sailors, midshipmite and all; so Captain Carroll secured a jaunty little steam-launch, and away we went on a picnic in the forest primeval.

    Over the Rocky Mountains to Alaska Charles Warren Stoddard 1876

  • What does that prove when the midshipmite was found with his head in the mixedpickle jar?

    Rhoda Fleming — Complete George Meredith 1868

  • This I'll say, I've never heard a man talk about it as you used to in old midshipmite days, whole watches through -- don't you remember? on the North American station, and in the Black Sea, and the

    Beauchamp's Career — Complete George Meredith 1868

  • What does that prove when the midshipmite was found with his head in the mixedpickle jar?

    Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868

  • This I'll say, I've never heard a man talk about it as you used to in old midshipmite days, whole watches through -- don't you remember? on the North American station, and in the Black Sea, and the

    Beauchamp's Career — Volume 2 George Meredith 1868

  • What does that prove when the midshipmite was found with his head in the mixedpickle jar?

    Rhoda Fleming — Volume 2 George Meredith 1868

Comments

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  • "Oh I am a cook and a captain bold,

    And the mate of the Nancy brig,

    And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite

    And the crew of the captain's gig."

    Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911), The Yarn of the 'Nancy Bell'

    September 20, 2009