grass Hear it!

Jump To: synonymsSynonyms · examplesUsage Examples · quotesQuotes · linkLink/Cite
Also found in: idiomsAH Idiom Dictionary
grass definition

grass (gras, gräs)

noun

  1. any of various plants of the grass family that are usually used for food, fodder, or grazing and as lawns
  2. any grasslike plant of various families having similar uses
  3. ground covered with grass; pasture land or lawn

  4. Etymology: from the visual resemblance to blades of grass

    horizontal lines of clutter on a radarscope caused by electronic noise signals
  5. ☆ Slang marijuana

  6. Etymology: short for grasshopper, rhyming slang for copper

    Brit., Slang an informer; stool pigeon

Etymology: ME gras < OE gærs, græs, akin to Ger gras < IE *ghrō-, grow

adjective

designating a family (Poaceae, order Cyperales) of monocotyledonous plants with long, narrow leaves, jointed stems, flowers in spikelets, and seedlike fruit, including wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, sugar cane, bamboo, sorghum, and bluegrass

transitive verb

  1. to put (an animal or animals) out to pasture or graze
  2. to grow grass over; cover with grass
  3. to lay (textiles, etc.) on the grass for bleaching by the sun
  4. Brit., Slang to inform against, as to the police

intransitive verb

  1. to become covered with grass
  2. Brit., Slang to act as an informer; inform (on)

Related Forms:

grass Idioms

go to grass

  1. to graze
  2. Chiefly Brit. to rest or retire
  3. ☆ go to the devil!

let the grass grow under one's feet

to waste one's time or neglect one's opportunities

put out to grass

Chiefly Brit. put out to pasture (see phrase under pasture)
Grass definition

Grass (gräs; E gräs)

Grass, Günter (Wilhelm) (gün′ter; E go̵̅o̅n′tər) 1927-; Ger. writer

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms grass idiom

grass Synonyms

grass

n.

  1. Wild grasses include: Johnson grass, salt grass, blue grass, beach grass, bent grass, foxtail, sedge, rush, reed, buffalo grass, bulrush, sand-bur, couch grass, carpet grass, crab grass, crowfoot, deer grass, bunch grass, meadow grass, fescue, heath grass, joint grass, orchard grass, pampas grass, June grass, redtop, river grass, slough grass, ribbon grass, stink grass, sweet grass, tickle grass, brome, canary grass, cat-tail, bamboo, wild rice.

  2. Cultivated grasses include: cane, millet, oats, wheat, barley, maize, rye, broomcorn, timothy, kaffir corn, Milo maize, bent grass, Bermuda grass, fescue, Kentucky blue grass, rice, sesame, sorghum.

  3. Grassed area

    grassland, meadow, lawn, garden (British), turf, green, fairway, sward, greensward, pasture, prairie, bottom, bottomland, hayfield; see also field 1, yard 1.

  4. *A drug

    marijuana, Nicotanea glauca (Latin), hemp, cannabis, pot*, weed*, maryjane*, boo*; see also drug 2.

let the grass grow under one's feet*

waste time, be lazy, fail; see neglect 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

grass Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • mow: Site on mown grass more than 1 acre in size.

Adjective modifier

  • ornamental: Ornamental grasses are an important part of the autumn garden, giving structure, form and texture.

Modifies a noun

  • verge: Can someone explain please the Councils policy on parking on grass verges?

Noun used with modifier

  • marram: Damage has already been done to the area as marram grass has had little chance to seed naturally on the dunes.
grass usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

grass quotes

   I know the colour rose, and it is lovely, But not when it ripens in a tumour; And healing greens, leaves and grass, so springlike, In limbs that fester are not springlike.

-Abse, Dannie

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough It isn't fit for humans now There isn't grass to graze a cow Swarm over, Death!

-Betjeman, SirJohn

Give ear,O ye heavens, and I will speak: and hear,O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon thetender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.

-Bible (Old Testament)

grass quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"grass." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/grass>

APA Style

grass. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/grass

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment