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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 © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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