little pitchers have big ears
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: little pitchers have long ears
Meaning · English
Children often overhear and understand more than adults think.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Trẻ em thường nghe và hiểu nhiều hơn người lớn nghĩ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: small vessels having large ears
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “little pitchers have big ears” mean?
Children often overhear and understand more than adults think. Literally: small vessels having large ears
Is “little pitchers have big ears” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.