to put the mite's eye out
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To make broth or pudding so thin that even a miller's eye would be puzzled to find the flour.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to put the mite's eye out” mean?
To make broth or pudding so thin that even a miller's eye would be puzzled to find the flour.
Is “to put the mite's eye out” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.