knee-high to a grasshopper

knee-high to a grasshopper

1. Very young. When I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I loved playing with dolls and stuffed animals. Unfortunately, Ed's mother died when he was still knee-high to a grasshopper.
2. Diminutive, as in size, stature, or importance. He was knee-high to a grasshopper all throughout middle school, but in high school he suddenly shot up to 6'2''. I felt knee-high to a grasshopper when I first joined the massive law firm.
See also: grasshopper
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

knee-high to a grasshopper

Quite young, as in I haven't seen him since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. This hyperbolic expression, dating from about 1850 and alluding to someone's youth, replaced the earlier knee-high to a mosquito or bumblebee or splinter.
See also: grasshopper
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

knee-high to a grasshopper

OLD-FASHIONED
If you say that you have done something since you were knee-high to a grasshopper, you mean that you have done it since you were a very young child. I've lived here since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.
See also: grasshopper
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

knee-high to a grasshopper

very small or very young. informal, humorous
In this form the phrase apparently dates from the mid 19th century, but early 19th-century US versions include knee-high to a toad and knee-high to a mosquito .
See also: grasshopper
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

knee-high to a ˈgrasshopper

(informal, humorous) (of a child) very small; very young: I haven’t seen you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper!
See also: grasshopper
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

knee-high to a grasshopper

mod. of very short stature. (Folksy.) I knew you when you were knee-high to a grasshopper.
See also: grasshopper
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

knee-high to a grasshopper

Small and, usually, quite young. The term, used most often to describe someone’s extreme youth, originated in America about 1850, when it replaced the earlier nineteenth-century hyperboles knee-high to a mosquito, bumble-bee, and splinter. A challenge arose in knee-high to a duck, current from about 1900 to the 1940s, but grasshopper outstripped and survived it, too.
See also: grasshopper
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer

knee high to a grasshopper

Very young. A grasshopper is tiny, and to stand, metaphorically speaking, no higher than the insect's knee was to be very small or young or both. The expression was usually used by male relatives to point out either a child's youth (“Drive the tractor by yourself?— why, you're not even knee-high to a grasshopper”) or the speaker's experience (“I've driven tractors since I was knee high to a grasshopper”).
See also: grasshopper, high, knee
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • be knee-high to a grasshopper
  • grasshopper
  • knee high to a grasshopper
  • knee-high to a duck
  • knee-high to a jackrabbit
  • knee-high by the 4th of July
  • knee
  • all the thing
  • in thing, the
  • knee-high in (something)
References in periodicals archive
"I am knee-high to a grasshopper," said Grima, ahead of today's home game against Huddersfield.
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The fact of the matter is if your knee-high to a grasshopper then you will most likely be type cast and acting parts may well be in short supply.
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Poor Ches, so many traumas and still knee-high to a grasshopper. And now Katy is 'at it' over the lamb doners with Ryan.
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"He first came in here as a five or six-year-old when he was knee-high to a grasshopper and, apart from getting a bit bigger and stronger, he hasn't changed a bit.
The sweet tooth truth about star's top treats
IT was Chesney's 18th birthday in Corrie this week and it seems like only yesterday he was knee-high to a grasshopper. His friends and family gathered round for presents and a party and as he blew the candles out on his cake, Fiz told him: "Make a wish, but don't tell anyone."
IT was Chesney's 18th birthday [...]
Whether you are just starting out in the game or have been playing since you were knee-high to a grasshopper, there's no getting away from the fact that golf is an extremely frustrating occupation.
Frustrating way to chase an impossible dream
Kyle Naughton is knee-high to a grasshopper.It showed the desire of the lads to not get beaten.
Lambert hails Canaries' victory as one of the best
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Bauer needs big run to secure Cup berth
"I've been an Elvis fan since I was knee-high to a grasshopper and have longed to put on a show to pay tribute to this great man," admits Dave.
Preview; ELVIS: AN AMERICAN TRILOGY Liverpool Olympia
"The Christmas we used to have on Paradise Farm, when I was in knee-pants and only knee-high to a grasshopper, had a lot to it," writes Robert Coffin, author of Mainstays of Maine.
Visions of sugarplums
When I was knee-high to a grasshopper, my driving icons were not Stirling Moss or Fangio but the highly skilled everyday guys who sat at the wheel of the London bus.
Live out dreams to drive a bus
"When I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I liked playing with sound," he said.
ARTISON'S CHRISTIE: SELLING SPEAKERS TAKES SOUND JUDGMENT
He's only knee-high to a grasshopper, but he's played with the very best - Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen among them.
FANS DANCE WITH NILS; NILS LOFGREN BAND, STAFFORD GATEHOUSE
Winning trainer Annabelle King said: 'He's an amazing horse - only knee-high to a grasshopper and every day he accompanies my little boy Oliver on his pony.
Mayhem keeps his cool again
It healed the deep hate I had felt for him since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.
Back to life: what made Lachlan Walters, a 19-year-old apprentice upholsterer from Adelaide, Australia, give up drink and drugs?