grass

plural grasses

1. countableuncountableAny 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.

   The cicale above in the lime, / And the lizards below in the grass, / Were as silent as ever old Tmolus was, / Listening to my sweet pipings.

   a. 1823 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Hymn of Pan”, in Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, editor, Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and Henry L[eigh] Hunt, […], published 1824, →OCLC, page 169

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   Thou turnest man to destruction: and sayest, Returne yee children of men. / For a thousand yeeres in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past: and as a watch in the night. / Thou carriest them away as with a flood, they are as a sleepe: in the morning they are like grasse which groweth vp. / In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth vp: in the euening it is cut downe, and withereth.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 90:3–6

   '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.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

2. countableAny of the various plants that are not in the family Poaceae that resemble grasses.
3. uncountableA lawn.
4. uncountableThe outside world, especially in the phrase "touch grass".
5. slanguncountableMarijuana.

   Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona / For some California grass

   1970, Paul McCartney, “Get Back”, in Let It Be, performed by The Beatles

   Synonyms: bhang, benj, boo, broccoli, bud, buddha, cannabis, cheeba

6. UKcountableslangAn informer; snitch, police informer; one who betrays a group (of criminals, etc) to the authorities.

   What just happened must remain secret. Don't be a grass.

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   He was a grass and an arse lick and he didn't do it for him, he did it for his brother, because if Vaughan had hit him especially with his mallet, Mark was the kind of lowlife that would have pressed charges and then that's a whole different problem.

   2007, Paul Knight, Coding of a Concrete Animal, page 215

   Another claimed a £10,000 bounty was put on his head as he was rumoured to be a “grass”.

   2023 June 29, Metro, London, page 4, column 1

   Synonyms: abaddon, accuser, beefer, bewrayer, bigmouth, blabber, blabtale, blabtongue

7. uncountablenatural sciencesSharp, closely spaced discontinuities in the trace of a cathode-ray tube, produced by random interference.
8. slanguncountableNoise on an A-scope or similar type of radar display.

   Some of the scattered waves can be picked up by the receiver and may show up as "grass" on the radar presentation. Weather radars make use of this phenomenon to chart the progress of storms.

   1963, Analysis of Weapons, page 61

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   The problem in radar detection is to have a signal to noise ratio that will allow the echo to be seen through the grass on the radar screen. The use of a long pulse allows a greater average signal strength to be returned in the target echoes.

   1960, Radarman 3 & 2, volume 1, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel, page 49

9. countableuncountableThe season of fresh grass; spring or summer.

   Synonyms: breakup, spring, springtime

10. countablefigurativelyobsoleteThat which is transitory.

    The grasse withereth, the flowre fadeth; because the spirit of the Lord bloweth vpon it: surely the people is grasse.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 40:7

    Synonyms: ephemera

11. countablefolk etymologyAsparagus; "sparrowgrass".

    'Have ready a hundred of ſmall graſs boiled, then ſave tops enough to ſtick the rolls with, the reſt cut ſmall and put into the cream, fill the loaves with them.'

    1769, Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy, 9th edition, page 195

12. countablebusinessThe surface of a mine.

present singular third person grasses · participle present grassing · participle past grassed · past grassed

1. transitiveTo lay out on the grass; to knock down (an opponent etc.).

   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.

   1893, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Naval Treaty, Norton, published 2005, page 709

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   The Chicken himself attributed this punishment to his having had the misfortune to get into Chancery early in the proceedings, when he was severely fibbed by the Larkey one, and heavily grassed.

   1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC

   Synonyms: flatten, floor, lay low, lay out, knock down, knock out, knock over, strike down

2. intransitiveslangtransitiveTo act as a grass or informer, to betray; to report on (criminals etc) to the authorities.

   "Grassed on me he did," I said morosely. (Note: Grass is English thief slang for inform.)^([sic])

   1962 [1959], William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, New York: Grove Press, page 2

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   "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..."

   2004, David Nobbs, Sex and Other Changes, page 95

   Synonyms: bewray, blow the whistle, clepe, denounce, dime, dime out, dob, drop a dime

3. transitiveTo cover with grass or with turf.
4. transitiveTo feed with grass.
5. transitiveTo expose, as flax, on the grass for bleaching, etc.
6. transitiveTo bring to the grass or ground; to land.

   In typical Necker style, the farmer walked to the line and mounted his gun without any shilly-shally. If he grassed the bird, he and Faurote would go into a shootout. If he missed, Faurote would win.

   2011, Deeanne Gist, Love on the Line, page 138

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   Let him hook and land a tigerfish of 20 lb., at the imminent risk of capsizing and joining the company of the engaging crocodiles, or, when he has grassed the fish, of having a finger bitten off by his iron teeth […]

   1903, John Buchan, The African Colony

1. A group of languages spoken in Papua New Guinea.

alternative Grassie

1. A surname.
2. A township in Spencer County, Indiana, United States, named after pioneer settler Daniel Grass.