grass

English Online Dictionary. What means grass‎? What does grass mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English gras, from Old English græs, from Proto-Germanic *grasą (“grass”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow”).

The "informer" sense is probably a shortening of grasshopper (“police officer, informant”), rhyming slang for copper (“police officer”) or shopper (“informant”); the exact sequence of derivation is unclear.

Pronunciation

• enPR: gräs, IPA^(key): /ɡɹɑːs/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [ɡɹ̠ɑːs]
  • (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): [ɡɹ̠äːs], [ɡɹ̠ɐːs]
• • Rhymes: -ɑːs
• enPR: grăs, IPA^(key): /ɡɹæs/
  • (US, Canada) IPA^(key): [ɡɹ̠æs], [ɡɹ̠ɛəs], [ɡɹ̠eəs]
  • (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): [ɡɹ̠as], [ɡɹ̠äs]
  • (New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore) IPA^(key): [ɡɹ̠ɛəs]
  • Rhymes: -æs

Noun

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.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:grass
2. (countable) Various plants not in family Poaceae that resemble grasses.
3. (uncountable) A lawn.
4. (uncountable) The outside world, especially in the phrase "touch grass".
5. (uncountable, slang) Marijuana.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:marijuana
7. (countable, British, slang) An informer, police informer; one who betrays a group (of criminals, etc) to the authorities.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:informant
8. (uncountable, physics) Sharp, closely spaced discontinuities in the trace of a cathode-ray tube, produced by random interference.
9. (uncountable, slang) Noise on an A-scope or similar type of radar display.
10. (countable, uncountable) The season of fresh grass; spring or summer.

    Synonyms: breakup, spring, springtime

11. (countable, obsolete, figurative) That which is transitory.

    Synonym: ephemera
12. (countable, folk etymology) Asparagus; "sparrowgrass".
13. (countable, mining) The surface of a mine.

Derived terms

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: gras, garas
• Fiji Hindi: giraas

Translations

See also

• Poaceae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Grass (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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.).

   Synonyms: flatten, floor, lay low, lay out, knock down, knock out, knock over, strike down
2. (transitive or intransitive, slang) To act as a grass or informer, to betray; to report on (criminals etc) to the authorities.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:rat out
3. (transitive) To cover with grass or with turf.
4. (transitive) To feed with grass.
5. (transitive) To expose, as flax, on the grass for bleaching, etc.
6. (transitive) To bring to the grass or ground; to land.

Derived terms

• grasser

Translations

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• gras (Sette Comuni)

Etymology

From Middle High German gras, from Old High German gras, from Proto-West Germanic *gras, from Proto-Germanic *grasą. Cognate with German Gras, English grass.

Noun

grass m

1. (Luserna, Tredici Comuni) grass

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Lombard

Etymology

From Late Latin crassus. Compare Italian grasso.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡras/
  • IPA^(key): [ɡras] (Eastern, Western)
  • IPA^(key): [ɡraʰ] (Brescian, Bergamasque)

Adjective

grass m (masculine plural grass, feminine singular grassa, feminine plural grasse)

1. fat, thick

Noun

grass

1. fat, grease

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin crassus. Compare French graisse.

Noun

grass m

1. fat