From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgnomegnome /nəʊm $ noʊm/ noun [countable] 1 RFa creature in children’s stories who looks like a little old man. Gnomes have pointed hats, live under the ground, and guard gold, jewels etc.2 DHTDLGa stone or plastic figure representing one of these creatures a garden gnome
Examples from the Corpus
gnome• Have only low-level foliage in the front of the house, where only a garden gnome could hide.• a garden gnome• Margaret's life might have been brightened up by a smug, self-amusing gurning garden gnome.• Another rather unusual query ... Is it possible to make your own garden gnomes - by casting them?• There were grinning gnomes worked into the iron filigree, running downwards helter-skelter.• They had gnomes in the garden, which was even more off-putting.• And what of hobgoblins, gnomes and the little people of Ireland?• To understand the S & P 500, however, you have to know more about the gnomes of Brooklyn.• People who imagine that some small cabal of powerful investors move the market often talk about the gnomes of Zurich.• the gnomes who work in the U.S. Treasurygarden gnome• Have only low-level foliage in the front of the house, where only a garden gnome could hide.• He called in Julian - a six-inch-tall red, white and blue garden gnome!• It is not in the business of scattering latter-day garden gnomes.• Margaret's life might have been brightened up by a smug, self-amusing gurning garden gnome.• Another rather unusual query ... Is it possible to make your own garden gnomes - by casting them?Origin gnome (1600-1700) French Modern Latin gnomus 