grasshopper

Everyday

A grasshopper is a green or brown insect with strong back legs that jumps far. tree →

In the lessons

the first jumper in a jumping contest; the frog and mouse jumps are told compared to it; in science, a grasshopper is an insect with 6 legs; it makes a chirping sound by rubbing its legs on its wings; phrases: «a grasshopper jumps», «grasshoppers chirp»

Examples

• The grasshopper jumped 25 inches. tree →
• The frog jumped 15 inches farther than the grasshopper. tree →
• The mouse jumped 9 inches less than the frog. tree →
• How much farther did the grasshopper jump than the mouse? tree →
• A grasshopper has 6 legs. tree →
• We heard grasshoppers chirping in the long grass. tree →
• The grasshopper jumped onto a leaf. tree →
• Birds and frogs eat grasshoppers. tree →
• A Grasshopper sat chirping in the branches of a tree. tree →

Note

Countable: a grasshopper, grasshoppers. A name in a chain of comparisons. Trap: follow the chain step by step (grasshopper → frog → mouse); «farther than» adds, «less than» takes away. Like all insects, it has 6 legs.

In Jewish tradition

Some kinds of grasshopper and locust are listed among the few insects that may be eaten. The spies use the word to say how small they felt beside the giants.

Interpretation. Jewish law names permitted kinds of locust, and Yemenite Jews kept the tradition of which ones are kosher. The spies' words are seen as a failure of faith, since they judged how others saw them.

Examples

• even these of them ye may eat: the locust after its kinds, and the bald locust after its kinds, and the cricket after its kinds, and the grasshopper after its kinds. (Torah LEV.11.22, JPS 1917) tree →
• And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.' (Torah NUM.13.33, JPS 1917) tree →
• It is He that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; (Prophets ISA.40.22, JPS 1917) tree →
• Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which camp in the walls in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are. (Prophets NAM.3.17, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable: a grasshopper, grasshoppers. A name in a chain of comparisons. Trap: follow the chain step by step (grasshopper → frog → mouse); «farther than» adds, «less than» takes away. Like all insects, it has 6 legs.