grass-eater

plural grass-eaters

1. An organism notable for eating grass
   1. A fish of species Distichodus rostratus or Distichodus engycephalus, of Africa
2. figurativelyA police officer who accepts offered bribes but does not actively seek them out.

   But why do police become grass-eaters at all, if they lack the greed and contempt fo decency necessary to become meat-eaters?

   2002, Edwin J. Delattre, Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing, American Enterprise Institute, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 79

   2 more examples

   It was the grass-eaters, the commission found, that made corruption respectable within the organization, encouraging a code of silence among officers.

   2012, Lee P. Brown, Policing in the 21st Century: Community Policing, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 50

   Grass-eaters constituted the majority of police officers who were corrupt; meat-eaters were rare. But meat-eaters are more dangerous. They aggressively misuse their police powers for personal gain.

   2016 September 13, Regoli, John D. Hewitt, Anna E. Kosloski, Exploring Criminal Justice, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 113

plural grass-eaters

1. derogatoryslangA celibate man, especially a Japanese man, who eschews dating and sexual relationships.

   That is what the modern men of Japan have done, these grass-eaters.

   2011 March 17, Paul Mceuen, Spiral, Hachette UK, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   The grass-eaters fail to maintain a 'manly' appearance, snared instead by the world of cosmetics and fashion which makes them look soft, 'fragile and girlie' ([…]).

   2016 July 1, Genaro Castro-Vazquez, Intimacy and Reproduction in Contemporary Japan (Routledge Research on Gender in Asia Series), Routledge, →ISBN, page 62

   She dubbed them “herbivore men” (shoshoku danshi) in a 2006 article, and the phrase caught on as the nation took note of the gentle grass-eaters. Their lesser-known counterparts are the “carnivore women” (nikushoku joshi) who take the initiative in life and love.

   2016 November 14, Kittredge Cherry, Womansword: What Japanese Words Say About Women, Stone Bridge Press, →ISBN, →OCLC

   Synonyms: herbivore man