Grass
Grass (grȧs) , noun
[Old English gras, gres, gers, AS, gras, gars; akin to OFries. gres, gers, Old Saxon, Dutch, German, Icelandic, & Gothic gras, Danish gras, Swedish gras, and prob. to English green, grow. Compare Graze.]
1.
Popularly: Herbage; the plants which constitute the food of cattle and other beasts; pasture.
2.
(Botany) 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. [Colloquial]
Two years old next grass.
4.
Metaphorically used for what is transitory.
Surely the people is grass.
5.
Marijuana. [Slang]
The following list includes most of the grasses of the United States of special interest, except cereals. Many of these terms will be found with definitions in the Vocabulary. See Illustrations in Appendix.
Many plants are popularly called grasses which are not true grasses botanically considered, such as black grass, goose grass, star grass, etc.
Collocations (27)
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 (Zoology) , 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 (Bohmeria 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 (Zoology) , (Zoology) (a) A common American sparrow (Poocates gramineus); -- called also vesper sparrow and bay-winged bunting. (b) Any Australian finch, of the genus Poephila, 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 (Zoology) , 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 (Zoology) , South African owl (Strix Capensis).
Grass parrakeet (Zoology) , ny of several species of Australian parrots, of the genus Euphemia; -- also applied to the zebra parrakeet.
Grass plover (Zoology) , he upland or field plover.
Grass poly (Botany) , species of willowwort (Lythrum Hyssopifolia). — Johnson
Crass quit (Zoology) , 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 (Zoology) , (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 (Zoology) , the pectoral sandpiper (Tringa maculata); -- called also jacksnipe in America.
Grass spider (Zoology) , a common spider (Agelena navia), which spins flat webs on grass, conspicuous when covered with dew.
Grass sponge (Zoology) , an inferior kind of commercial sponge from Florida and the Bahamas.
Grass vetch (Botany) , a vetch (Lathyrus Nissolia), with narrow grasslike leaves.
Grass widow , (a) An unmarried woman who is a mother. [Obsolete] (b) A woman separated from her husband by abandonment or prolonged absence; a woman living apart from her husband. [Slang.]
Grass wrack (Botany) , eelgrass.
To bring to grass (Mining) , to raise, as ore, to the surface of the ground.
To put to grass or To put out to grass , to put out to graze a season, as cattle.
Grass , transitive verb
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. [Colloquial]
Grass , intransitive verb
To produce grass. [Rare] — Tusser