grasshopper
n. countablen. a green or brown insect with long back legs that it uses for jumping. It makes a clicking or chirping sound by rubbing its legs together.
n. a plant-eating insect of the suborder Caelifera, characterised by powerful hind legs adapted for leaping and mouthparts for chewing. Often used metaphorically in informal contexts to refer to a novice or student.
A green grasshopper jumped through the tall grass.
During the summer months, you can hear the sound of grasshoppers chirping in the fields.
The swarm of grasshoppers moved across the agricultural plains, posing a significant threat to the season's wheat harvest due to their voracious appetite for leafy vegetation.
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.
The slang sense referring to a 'student' or 'apprentice' is informal and originates from popular culture.