imps

Noun

imp (plural imps)

1. (transitive) A small, mischievous sprite or a malevolent supernatural creature, somewhat comparable to a demon but smaller and less powerful, formerly regarded as the child of the devil or a demon (see sense 3.2).
   • "Yes, there are a great, great many coming after us; at least a score," said the lad.—"Well, that's the troll," said the horse; "he is coming after us with his imps."1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “The Widow’s Son”, in H[ans] L[ien] Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log: Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston...
2. (broadly, humorous, often, transitive) A mischievous child.
   • Concourſe, and noiſe, and toil, he ever fled; / Nor cared to mingle in the clamorous fray / Of ſquabbling imps; but to the foreſt ſped, / Or roam'd at large the lonely mountain's head; […]1771, James Beattie, The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius. A Poem. Book the First, London: […] E[dward] & C[harles] Dilly, […]; Edinburgh: A[lexander] Kincaid and W[illiam] Creech; and J[ohn]...

   Synonyms:

   brat, little dickens, scamp, urchin

3. (broadly, transitive) A baby Tasmanian devil.
   • When they are upset, their ears blush a furious crimson, resembling red horns and adding to their diabolical image. (Baby devils, packed four to a pouch, are known as imps.)[2012 May, Abigail Tucker, “What is Killing the Tasmanian Devil?”, in Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 May 2021
4. (UK, broadly, colloquial, transitive) A supporter (or less commonly, a player) of the Lincoln City Football Club.
5. (obsolete, transitive) A young shoot of a plant, a tree, etc.; a sapling; also, a part of a plant used for grafting; a graft.
   • Þai sett hem doun al þre / Vnder a fair ympetre, / And wel sone þis fair quene / Fel on slepe opon þe grene.[c. late 13th or early 14th century, Oscar Zielke, editor, Sir Orfeo: Ein englisches Feenmärchen aus dem Mittelalter: […] [Sir Orfeo: An English Fairy Tale from the Middle Ages: […]] (in Middle...
6. (obsolete, transitive) An offspring or scion, especially of a noble family; (generally) a (usually male) child; a (young) man.
   • And thou moſt dreaded impe of higheſt Ioue, / Faire Venus ſonne, that with thy cruell dart / At that good knight ſo cunningly didſt rove, / That glorious fire it kindled in his heart, / Lay now thy deadly Heben bow apart, / And with thy mother milde come to my ayde: […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 2

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