knee pants

American  

plural noun

1. knee-length pants, especially those formerly worn by boys considered too young to wear full-length trousers (often used as a term symbolizing youth).

   I haven't felt this way since I was in knee pants.

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Etymology

Origin of knee pants

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

knee pants

With his parents and six brothers & sisters, Donald toured the U.S. three times before he was out of knee pants.

From Time Magazine Archive

On the common in Lawrence, Mass., a skinny Yankee youngster in knee pants worked his way eellike through an agitated mob to the foot of the bandstand.

From Time Magazine Archive

As a page in knee pants at the Oklahoma legislature, he wrote a critical piece on the state senate, shyly showed it to a reporter.

From Time Magazine Archive

At ten, a chunky, blond child in velvet knee pants, he played the Beethoven Concerto with the New York Symphony.

From Time Magazine Archive

Like other boys, he wore knee pants and heavy shoes with brass toe tips.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith