Jack Sprat

English

Etymology

The name of a character in an old poem, who would eat no fat.

Noun

Jack Sprat (plural Jack Sprats)

1. (informal) A small or skinny boy or man.
   • John Redford, The Play of Wit & Science

     Heard you ever such a counsel of such a Jack sprat?

   • 2009, Rupert Isaacson, The Horse Boy: A Father's Miraculous Journey to Heal His Son:

     The other van pulled up behind us, its super-skinny driver, a Jack Sprat to the large guy driving our van, grinning widely as he cut the engine.

References

• John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary