Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA mostly herbivorous insect of the order Orthoptera, noted for its ability to jump long distances and for the habit of some species communicating by stridulation; they are related to but distinct from crickets.
nounA mostly herbivorous insect of the order Orthoptera, noted for its ability to jump long distances and for the habit of some species communicating by stridulation; they are related to but distinct from crickets., In the strict sense, refers to insects in the suborder Caelifera, particularly those in the family Acrididae.
The small ____ jumped from the leaf and landed on the ground.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A large green ____ jumped across the path and landed on a leaf, blending in perfectly with its surroundings.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English grashoppere, alteration of earlier grashoppe, from Old English græshoppa (“grasshopper”). Equivalent to grass + hopper. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäärshupper, Dutch grashupper, grashipper, German Low German Grashüpper, Gresshüpper, German Grashüpfer, Danish græshoppe, Swedish gräshoppa, Norwegian gresshoppe.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Even in my happiest moments, while the grass was crowded with flowers beneath me—the sweet monotony of the running water in mine ear, only broken by the cheerful chant of the grasshopper—the boughs of the chestnut, filled with sunshine, dazzling my eyes, till the golden air seemed thronged with lovely shapes,—even then came pale and mournful shadows, whose white faces looked upon me pityingly."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 168:
"But it is as a destroyer of grasshoppers that the dickcissel excels."
— 1901, Sylvester D. Judd, The Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture, page 91:
"Does he order Scotch-on-the-rocks in a low, mean voice? No? A Bud? No? A grasshopper, heavy on the creme de menthe? Right!"
— 1979 April 21, Greg Jackson, “He Looks Like Tarzan But He Talks Like Jane”, in Gay Community News, page 17:
"John Geib […]patented the hopper with two separate escapements, one of which soon became adopted in the grasshopper of the square piano"
— 1894, “Pianoforte”, in Encyclopædia_Britannica: