Humpty Dumpty

[ huhmp-tee duhmp-tee ]

/ ˈhʌmp ti ˈdʌmp ti /

an egg-shaped character in a Mother Goose nursery rhyme that fell off a wall and could not be put together again.

(sometimes lowercase) something that has been damaged severely and usually irreparably.

Origin of Humpty Dumpty

rhyming compound based on humpty; see hump, -ed³, -y²

The Obama team has been working closely with Riyadh to try to put the Yemeni Humpty-Dumpty back together.

Ibrahim al Asiri: al Qaeda’s ‘Genius’ Bomb Maker |Bruce Riedel |May 8, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
In Trilby we get back, as it were, to Humpty-Dumpty—to its simplicity at least, if not to its pitch of art.

George Du Maurier, the Satirist of the Victorians |T. Martin Wood
Humpty-dumpty, short and thick; all of a heap; all together, like an egg.

The Slang Dictionary |John Camden Hotten
Then the old man told them the story of Humpty-Dumpty;—how he fell downstairs and was raised up again, and married a princess.

Christmas Stories And Legends |Various

Such a nice, common old chap is Humpty-Dumpty, so “stuck-up” because he has spoken to a King; and argue!

Lewis Carroll in Wonderland and at Home |Belle Moses
But Humpty-Dumpty only shut his eyes and said: ‘Wait till you’ve tried.

The philosophy of B*rtr*nd R*ss*ll |Various

humpty dumpty

/ (ˈhʌmptɪ ˈdʌmptɪ) /

a short fat person

a person or thing that once overthrown or broken cannot be restored or mended

C18: after the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty

“Humpty Dumpty”

A nursery rhyme:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.