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# gremlin

noun (a gremlin, gremlins)

«gremlin» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. An imaginary, mischievous little creature blamed for things going wrong with machines. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gremlin/#m1)
2. (informal) An unknown small fault that makes a machine or computer break down: there's a gremlin in the system. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gremlin/#m2)

### In the lessons

In stories and films (like «Gremlins») gremlins are naughty creatures. In everyday life adults joke that «gremlins» broke the printer or the Wi-Fi. The idea started with pilots in the Royal Air Force in the 1920s–1940s, blaming plane faults on gremlins. Phrases: a gremlin in the works, technical gremlins.

### Examples

- Dad blamed the gremlins when the computer crashed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gremlin/#x1)
- There's a gremlin in the printer again. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gremlin/#x2)
- In the story, a green gremlin hid inside the plane. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gremlin/#x3)
- Technical gremlins delayed the school play's lights. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gremlin/#x4)
- Pilots used to joke that gremlins chewed the wires. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gremlin/#x5)
- The engineers hunted the gremlin for hours. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gremlin/#x6)

### Note

Countable: a gremlin, gremlins. Gremlins are not real; «a gremlin» in machines is a way of saying «an unknown fault». Not the same as goblins, though both are small mischievous creatures in stories.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «gremlin» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gremlin/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«gremlin» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/gremlin.html) on Mova free.