GRASSHOPPER • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Grasshopper

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/grˈæshˌɑpər/ Listen

noun

Grasshopper n.

(Zool.) Any jumping, orthopterous insect, of the families Acrididae and Locustidae, having large hind legs adapted for leaping, and chewing mouth parts. The species and genera are very numerous and some are very destructive to crops. The former family includes the Western grasshopper or locust (Caloptenus spretus), noted for the great extent of its ravages in the region beyond the Mississippi. In the Eastern United States the red-legged (Caloptenus femurrubrum and C. atlanis) are closely related species, but their ravages are less important. They are closely related to the migratory locusts of the Old World. See Locust. Note: The meadow or green grasshoppers belong to the Locustidae. They have long antennae, large ovipositors, and stridulating organs at the base of the wings in the male. The European great green grasshopper (Locusta viridissima) belongs to this family. The common American green species mostly belong to Xiphidium, Orchelimum, and Conocephalus.

In ordinary square or upright pianos of London make, the escapement lever or jack, so made that it can be taken out and replaced with the key; called also the hopper.

(Mil.) An antipersonnel mine that jumps from the ground to body height when activated, and explodes, hurling metal fragments over a wide area.

A mixed alcoholic beverage containing crème de menthe, light cream, and sometimes crème de cacao. The name comes from its light green color.

Grasshopper engine, a steam engine having a working beam with its fulcrum at one end, the steam cylinder at the other end, and the connecting rod at an intermediate point.

Grasshopper lobster (Zool.) a young lobster. (Local, U. S.)

Grasshopper warbler (Zool.), cricket bird.

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Etymology of 'Grasshopper'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Grasshopper" Quotes from Famous Books

... of days off. I want a good quiet time, with no female women about save Barbara and my fairy grasshopper whom, as you know, ...

— Jaffery • William J. Locke

... path he would tread. Let him feel that you are striving to solace his declining years, and to requite that love which was shed upon you, the earliest moment of your consciousness. Can you do less for him, now that desire fails and the grasshopper has become a burden and he must soon go to his long home? Of you may ...

— The Young Maiden • A. B. (Artemas Bowers) Muzzey

... with a quick and nervous motion touched her cithara. With a nod and a smile, Aspasia said, "Continue the music, I pray you." The tune being left to her own choice, the young matron sang Anacreon's Ode to the Grasshopper. Her voice was not unpleasing; but it contrasted disadvantageously with the rich intonations of Eudora; and if the truth must be told, that dark-haired damsel was quite too ...

— Philothea - A Grecian Romance • Lydia Maria Child

... by the tettix. Archon. One of the nine rulers of Athens. Tettix. A grasshopper. "The Athenians sometimes wore golden grasshoppers in their hair as badges of honor, because these insects are supposed to spring from the ground, and thus they showed they were sprung from the original inhabitants of the country." ...

— Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning • Robert Browning

... goes for a constitutional, with a dog to save him from feeling lonely, or, if he has a gun, with a dog to help him kill something. It is a world which has sound in it, distant cries and penetrative calls, and low mysterious notes, as of insects and corncrakes, and frogs chirping and of grasshopper warblers—sounds like wind in the dry sedges. And there are also sweet and beautiful songs; but it is very quiet world where creatures move about subtly, on wings, on polished scales, on softly padded feet—rabbits, foxes, stoats, weasels, and ...

— Afoot in England • W.H. Hudson

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