LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG EARS Definition & Meaning

Little pitchers have big ears

Adults must be careful about what they say within the hearing of children. The saying refers to the large handles (ears) sometimes attached to small vessels.

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Idioms and Phrases

Young children often overhear something they should not. For example, Don't use any swear words around Brian—little pitchers have big ears . This metaphoric expression, which likens the curved handle of a pitcher to the human ear, was already in John Heywood's proverb collection of 1546.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Then, “No matter. Little pitchers have big ears, as they say. Yes. The Honour Guard.”

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Little pitchers have big ears, as the saying goes, but those ears still need protection from loud music.

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“Because little pitchers have big ears,” Bertha sighed.

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“Take care, Sarah,” he muttered, setting down the sobbing Nannette, none too gently, upon the floor, “little pitchers have big ears, and there’s no knowing when or where they might blab.”

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The door was open into the children’s room and it was notorious that “little pitchers have big ears.”

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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