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Webster 1913 Edition

Grass

Grass

(grȧs)
,
Noun.
[OE.
gras
,
gres
,
gers
, AS,
græs
,
gærs
; akin to OFries.
gres
,
gers
, OS., D., G., Icel., & Goth.
gras
, Dan.
græs
, Sw.
gräs
, and prob. to E.
green
,
grow
. Cf.
Graze
.]
1.
Popularly: Herbage; the plants which constitute the food of cattle and other beasts; pasture.
2.
(Bot.)
An endogenous plant having simple leaves, a stem generally jointed and tubular, the husks or glumes in pairs, and the seed single.
☞ This definition includes wheat, rye, oats, barley, etc., and excludes clover and some other plants which are commonly called by the name of grass. The grasses form a numerous family of plants.
3.
The season of fresh grass; spring.
[Colloq.]
Two years old next
grass
.
Latham.
4.
Metaphorically used for what is transitory.
Surely the people is
grass
.
Is. xl. 7.
Wood grass
,
Indian grass
,
hay.
Chrysopogon nutans
.
☞ Many plants are popularly called grasses which are not true grasses botanically considered, such as black
grass
, goose
grass
, star
grass
, etc.
Black grass
,
a kind of small rush (
Juncus Gerardi
), growing in salt marshes, used for making salt hay.
–
Grass of the Andes
,
an oat grass, the
Arrhenatherum avenaceum
of Europe.
–
Grass of Parnassus
,
a plant of the genus
Parnassia
growing in wet ground. The European species is
Parnassia palustris
; in the United States there are several species.
–
Grass bass
(Zool.)
,
the calico bass.
–
Grass bird
,
the dunlin.
–
Grass cloth
,
a cloth woven from the tough fibers of the grass-cloth plant.
–
Grass-cloth plant
,
a perennial herb of the Nettle family (
Bœhmeria nivea
syn.
Urtica nivea
), which grows in Sumatra,
China
, and Assam, whose inner bark has fine and strong fibers suited for textile purposes.
–
Grass finch
.
(Zool.)
(a)
A common American sparrow (
Poöcætes gramineus
); – called also
vesper sparrow
and
bay-winged bunting
.
(b)
Any Australian finch, of the genus
Poëphila
, of which several species are known.
–
Grass lamb
,
a lamb suckled by a dam running on pasture land and giving rich milk.
–
Grass land
,
land kept in grass and not tilled.
–
Grass moth
(Zool.)
,
one of many small moths of the genus
Crambus
, found in grass.
–
Grass oil
,
a fragrant essential volatile oil, obtained in India from grasses of the genus
Andropogon
, etc.; – used in perfumery under the name of
citronella
,
ginger grass oil
,
lemon grass oil
,
essence of verbena
etc.
–
Grass owl
(Zool.)
, a
South African owl (
Strix Capensis
).
–
Grass parrakeet
(Zool.)
, a
ny of several species of Australian parrots, of the genus
Euphemia
; – also applied to the zebra parrakeet.
–
Grass plover
(Zool.)
, t
he upland or field plover.
–
Grass poly
(Bot.)
, a
species of willowwort (
Lythrum Hyssopifolia
).
Johnson.
–
Crass quit
(Zool.)
,
one of several tropical American finches of the genus
Euetheia
. The males have most of the head and chest black and often marked with yellow.
–
Grass snake
.
(Zool.)
(a)
The common English, or ringed, snake (
Tropidonotus natrix
).
(b)
The common green snake of the Northern United States. See
Green snake
, under
Green
.
–
Grass snipe
(Zool.)
,
the pectoral sandpiper (
Tringa maculata
); – called also
jacksnipe
in America.
–
Grass spider
(Zool.)
,
a common spider (
Agelena nævia
), which spins flat webs on grass, conspicuous when covered with dew.
–
Grass sponge
(Zool.)
,
an inferior kind of commercial sponge from Florida and the Bahamas.
–
Grass table
.
(Arch.)
See
Earth table
, under
Earth
.
–
Grass vetch
(Bot.)
,
a vetch (
Lathyrus Nissolia
), with narrow grasslike leaves.
–
Grass widow
.
[Cf. Prov. R. an unmarried mother, G.
strohwittwe
a mock widow, Sw.
gräsenka
a grass widow.]
(a)
An unmarried woman who is a mother.
[Obs.]
(b)
A woman separated from her husband by abandonment or prolonged absence; a woman living apart from her husband.
[Slang.]
–
Grass wrack
(Bot.)
eelgrass.
–
To bring to grass
(Mining.)
,
to raise, as ore, to the surface of the ground.
–
To put to grass
,
To put out to grass
,
to put out to graze a season, as cattle.

Grass

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Grassed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Grassing
.]
1.
To cover with grass or with turf.
2.
To expose, as flax, on the grass for bleaching, etc.
3.
To bring to the grass or ground; to land;
as, to grass a fish
.
[Colloq.]

Grass

,
Verb.
I.
To produce grass.
[R.]
Tusser.

Webster 1828 Edition

Grass

GR`ASS

,
Noun.
1.
In common usage, herbage; the plants which constitute the food of cattle and other beasts.
2.
In botany, a plant having simple leaves, a stem generally jointed and tubular, a husky calyx, called glume, and the seed single. This definition includes wheat, rye, oats, barley, &c., and excludes clover and some other plants which are commonly called by the name of grass. The grasses form a numerous family of plants.
Grass of Parnassus, a plant, the Parnassia.

GR`ASS

,
Verb.
T.
To cover with grass or with turf.

GR`ASS

,
Verb.
I.
To breed grass; to be covered with grass.

Definition 2024

Grass

Grass

See also: grass

English

Proper noun

Grass

  1. A surname​.

grass

grass

See also: Grass

English

Noun

Grass.

grass ‎(countable and uncountable, plural grasses)

  1. (countable, uncountable) Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem, especially those grown as ground cover rather than for grain.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.
  2. (countable) Various plants not in family Poaceae that resemble grasses.
  3. (uncountable) A lawn.
  4. (uncountable, slang) Marijuana.
  5. (countable, slang) An informer, police informer; one who betrays a group (of criminals, etc) to the authorities.
  6. (uncountable, physics) Sharp, closely spaced discontinuities in the trace of a cathode-ray tube, produced by random interference.
  7. (uncountable, slang) Noise on an A-scope or similar type of radar display.
  8. The season of fresh grass; spring.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Latham, (Please provide the title of the work):
      two years old next grass
  9. (obsolete, figuratively) That which is transitory.
    • Bible Is. xl. 7
      Surely the people is grass.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

grass ‎(third-person singular simple present grasses, present participle grassing, simple past and past participle grassed)

  1. (transitive) To lay out on the grass; to knock down (an opponent etc.).
    • 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Naval Treaty, Norton, published 2005, page 709:
      He flew at me with his knife, and I had to grass him twice, and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had the upper hand of him.
  2. (transitive or intransitive, slang) To act as a grass or informer, to betray; to report on (criminals etc) to the authorities.
    • 2004, David Nobbs, Sex and Other Changes, page 95:
      "I'm dressed as a woman, but I am still technically a man. I believe that to comply with the law of the land I ought to continue to use the Gents', but in order not to look out place I intend to use the Ladies' from now on. I trust none of you will grass on me..."
  3. (transitive) To cover with grass or with turf.
  4. (transitive) To expose, as flax, on the grass for bleaching, etc.
  5. (transitive) To bring to the grass or ground; to land.
    to grass a fish‎

Translations

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin crassus. Compare French graisse.

Noun

grass m

  1. fat

Etymology

From Middle English gras, gres, gers, from Old English græs, gærs ‎(“grass, blade of grass, herb, young corn, hay, plant; pasture”), from Proto-Germanic *grasą ‎(“grass”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‎(“to grow”).

Pronunciation

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