grasshopper
Americannoun
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grasshoppers
plural
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any of numerous herbivorous, orthopterous insects, especially of the families Acrididae and Tettigoniidae, having the hind legs adapted for leaping and having chewing mouth parts, some species being highly destructive to vegetation.
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a small, light airplane used on low-flying missions, as for reconnaissance.
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Military. Grasshopper, a U.S. antipersonnel mine that jumps off the ground when activated by proximate body heat and sprays shrapnel over a lethal radius of 350 feet (107 meters).
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a cocktail of light cream, green crème de menthe, and white crème de menthe or crème de cacao.
noun
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any orthopterous insect of the families Acrididae ( short-horned grasshoppers ) and Tettigoniidae ( long-horned grasshoppers ), typically terrestrial, feeding on plants, and producing a ticking sound by rubbing the hind legs against the leathery forewings See also locust katydid
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informal very young or very small
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an iced cocktail of equal parts of crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and cream
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(modifier) unable to concentrate on any one subject for long
a grasshopper mind
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of grasshopper
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English; see origin at grass ( def. ), hopper ( def. )
Explanation
Grasshoppers are chirping insects that hop. A grasshopper can use its long legs to leap up to 20 times its own body length — that's pretty impressive for a bug! Grasshoppers are related to crickets and katydids. The origin of the word grasshopper is instantly clear once you see a grassy field full of these leaping insects. The insects "chirp" by rubbing their legs against their wings. In some parts of the world, grasshoppers are eaten by humans, and they are often viewed as pests because of their appetite for grains. Swarms of grasshoppers have at various times been responsible for the destruction of entire fields of crops.
Vocabulary lists containing grasshopper
The United States
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Example Sentences
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See Examples For:
Bernard Suits, a philosopher who focused on sports, disagreed, and he drew on Aesop’s fable of the ant and the grasshopper in his inventive rebuttal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Other species to have been named after the broadcaster in the past include a wildflower, butterfly, grasshopper, dinosaur and ghost shrimp.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
Their farms regularly suffer severe losses from Senegalese grasshopper swarms.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 2026
Whether you are a grasshopper or a bird or a human, if you start destroying the environment in which you live, then you are overpopulated.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2024
“No,” he answered, “not all. If you want to know, I happen to be a ‘short-horned’ grasshopper.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
Of the 1.3 million schoolchildren evacuated from cities to the countryside, Mr. Scott writes, many “resorted to eating grasshoppers, snakes, and stream crabs as well as tooth-cleaning powder, paint, and crayons.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The meadow has become a haven for other wildlife, including dragonflies and grasshoppers.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Among the more poignant moments, Charles laments the loss of wildlife at Highgrove, noting when he first moved in there nearly five decades ago he would hear cuckoos and see grasshoppers.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
"This carbohydrate bias, or the 'donut diet,' is optimal for populations of locusts and swarming grasshoppers," Cease says.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 2026
“Oh, MommaV' Ellie and Brenda squawked in concert. These girls could get out of work faster than grasshoppers could slip through your fingers. “
From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
