411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Jack Sprat
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
English
Etymology
The name of a character in an old poem, who would eat no fat.
Noun
Jack Sprat
en 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?
en 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
en 1873 John Camden Hotten The Slang Dictionary
en eponyms