knee-high

[adjective nee-hahy; noun nee-hahy]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR knee-high ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

as high as the knees.

noun

knee-highs. Also knee highs, knee-hi's, knee his. socks, stockings, or boots that cover the lower legs to just below the knees.

Origin of knee-high

An Americanism dating back to 1735–45

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for knee-high

diminutive, baby, pocket, Lilliputian, miniature, teeny, tiny, teensy, minikin

Examples from the Web for knee-high

Contemporary Examples of knee-high

She took the podium in a black McQueen waistcoat embroidered with gold flowers and knee-high leather boots.
Inside Alexander McQueen's Memorial
Isabel Wilkinson
September 20, 2010

Historical Examples of knee-high

She was knee-high to a grasshopper, and I was shoulder-high.
If You Touch Them They Vanish
Gouverneur Morris
The lawn is like velvet and everywhere the grass is knee-high.
The Life of Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson
Nellie van De Grift Sanchez
Why, I ain't bin inside a schoolhouse since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.
Trent's Trust and Other Stories
Bret Harte
He hesitated a moment, then pushed between the knee-high stalks.
It Could Be Anything
John Keith Laumer
Since he was knee-high he's always had an aidge on most folks, 'count of his size an' weight.
Rimrock Trail
J. Allan Dunn

British Dictionary definitions for knee-high

knee-high

adjective

another word for knee-deep (def. 1)

as high as the kneea knee-high child

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for knee-high

adj.

1743, from knee (n.) + high (adj.). Phrase knee-high to a grasshopper first recorded 1851 (earliest form was knee-high to a toad, 1814).