▪ I. grass, n.1
(grɑːs, -æ-)
Forms: α. 1 græs, (pl. grasu), 3–5 gres, 3–6 gras, (3 grace, graes, 4 grece, grees), 4 gris(e, 4, 6 griss(e, 4–6 gress(e, 4–7 grasse, (5 graas, grase, graz), 6– grass. β. 1 gærs, gers, subsequently Sc. and north. dial. 4, 6–9 gers(e, 4–6 gyrs(s, 5–6 gyrse, 5, 9 girss, 6, 9 gerss, 6–9 girs(e.
[Com. Teut.: OE. græs, gærs str. neut. = OFris. gres, gers, OS. gras (MDu. gras, gars, gers, mod.Du. gras), OHG. (MHG., mod.Ger.), ON. (Sw. gräs, Da. græs), Goth. gras:—OTeut. *graso{supm}, f. OTeut. root *gra-: grô- (whence MHG. gruose young plants; also green a., grow v.):—OAryan *ghrā̆- to grow, whence L. grāmen grass.]
1. a. Herbage in general, the blades or leaves and stalks of which are eaten by horses, cattle, sheep, etc. Also, in a narrower sense, restricted to the smaller non-cereal Gramineæ (see 3), and plants resembling these in general appearance. In early use often pl., but now only collect. sing.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. 864 Fenum, graes. c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxiii. 173 Sua sua maneᵹra cynna wyrta & grasu beoð ᵹerad. c 1000 Andreas 38 (Gr.) Hie hiᵹ & gærs for meteleaste meðe ᵹedrehte. c 1200 Ormin 15467 Swa fele kinne wasstmess Off gresess, & off tres. c 1205 Lay. 3905 Þat heo frete þet corn & þat graes. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3049 Trees it for-brac, and gres, and corn. a 1300 Cursor M. 11109 (Gött.) He..liued wid rotis and wid grise [Cott. gress]. c 1340 Ibid. 4563 (Trin.) Floures & greses [other texts gress(e] þerynne I fond. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 388 Lilyes & grasse þat growen in þe felde. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xvi. 244 Bestes by gras & by greyn and by grene rotes. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. xiii. 11 Sum steddys growys sa habowndanly Of Gyrs, þat [etc.]. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 296 Whan a flode rysyth up heye Gres goth undyr. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. i, Of a mule whiche ete grasse in a medowe nyghe to a grete forest. 1504 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 187 She hath no gresse to hir cattell. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. iv. 25 Trippis eik of gait, but ony keipar, In the rank gersis pasturing on raw. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 37, I past to the greene hoilsum feildis..to resaue the sueit fragrant smel of tendir gyrssis. 1597 Middleton Wisdom Solomon xvi. 25 Is grass man's meat? no, it is cattle's food. 1637 B. Jonson Sad Sheph. i. i, Her treading would not bend a blade of grasse! 1755 J. McLaurin Serm. & Ess. 110 The least pile of grass is an effect of infinite power. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 315 Quadrupedes, that feed upon grass. 1817 Coleridge Sibyll. Leaves (1862) 117 The grass was fine, the sun was bright. 1837 Emerson Addr., Amer. Schol. Wks. (Bohn) II. 179 The human body can be nourished on any food, though it were boiled grass and the broth of shoes. 1883 Gd. Words 3 His foot caught in a tuft of grass. 1894 Crockett Raiders xviii. 165 There's a handfu' o' girse to brew mair milk. |
| fig. 1535 Coverdale Is. xl. 6 All flesh is grasse [so later versions; Wyclif hei]. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. II. 12 Without running into the high grass of latent meanings and obscure allusions. |
b. Proverbs.
| c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. ii. 253 The gray hors, whyl his gras growyth, May sterue for hunger, þus seyth þe prouerbe. c 1530 R. Hilles Common-Pl. Bk. (1858) 140 Whyle the grasse growyth the hors stervyth. 1869 Hazlitt Eng. Prov. & Phrases 467 Where the Turk's horse once treads, the grass never grows. |
c. In figurative phrases.
between grass and hay (see
quots.).
to cut one's own grass: to earn one's own living (
slang).
to cut the grass from under a person's feet: to foil, thwart, trip him up.
† to give grass (a rendering of L.
dare herbam): to yield, to surrender.
to let no grass grow (or the grass does not grow) under one's feet (or † on one's heel, beneath one's heels): giving the idea of moving or acting briskly, making the most of one's time.
† to pluck the grass to know where the wind sits: to interpret the signs of the times.
| a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. iii. (Arb.) 48 There hath grown no grasse on my heele since I went hence. 1588 Greene Pandosto (1843) 13 Willing that the grasse should not be cut from under his feete. 1597–8 Hall Sat., Defiance to Enuie 105 Needs me give grasse unto the conquerers. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 210 The hare..leaps away again, and letteth no grass grow under his feet. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1692) 16 No Man could pluck the Grass better, to know where the Wind sat; no Man could spie sooner from whence a Mischief did rise. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 278 You are all this while cutting the grass under his feet. 1743 Ellis Mod. Husb. III. i. 78 April and September are reckoned the worst Months to make Butter in, because then the Season is between Grass and Hay. 1828 Scott Jrnl. 29 Mar., I have let no grass grow beneath my heels this bout. 1848 in Amer. Speech (1935) X. 40 Betwixt hay & grass, between Boyhood & Manhood. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 619 The King answered that he had not come to Ireland to let the grass grow under his feet. 1868 Morning Star 8 June, It is the habit of costermongers and that class of people to make their children useful—to make them ‘cut their own grass’. 1877 5 Yrs.' Penal Serv. iii. 242 ‘Cut her own grass!..what is that?’..‘Why, purvide her own chump—earn her own living.’ 1884 Edna Lyall We Two v, [He] was not a man who ever let the grass grow under his feet. 1891 H. C. Bunner Zadoc Pine 17 He..got a couple of eggs cooked for his private supper... The eggs were, as he told Mr. Bryan, ‘kinder 'twixt grass and hay’. |
d. slang. Green vegetables.
| 1867 in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 347. |
e. Marijuana, used as a drug.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1943 Time 19 July 54 Marijuana may be called..grass. 1945 L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 25 Grass reefers, marijuana cigarettes. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. iv. 1/1 According to one Federal Narcotics Bureau agent, California ‘is flooded with marijuana’, which is better known by the increasing numbers who smoke it as ‘pot’, ‘grass’ and ‘Mary J.’. 1968 A. Diment Gt. Spy Race vi. 88 Pure Grass cigarettes, at two dollars a pack and none of your watering down with tobacco. 1969 Win 15 May 31/2, I consider grass and mescaline to be extremely important and inherent parts of this social revolution. |
2. A kind of grass; one of the various species of plants spoken of collectively as grass.
† a. A small herbaceous plant, a (medicinal) herb.
Obs.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1011 Vor men þat beþ enuenimed, þoru graces of þe londe Idronke hii beþ iclansed sone þoru godes sonde. 1320–30 Horn Ch. in Ritson Metr. Rom. III. 316 Go..And geder parvink and ive, Gresses that ben of main. c 1340 Cursor M. 8453 (Fairf.) Þe kinde of þingis lered he baþ of tree and grissis fele [Cott. þe kind o thinges lerd he, Bath o tres, and gress fele]. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. (E.E.T.S.) 575/275 Macer þe strengþe of grases telles, Boþe of crop and Rote. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Symon & Judas 24 And of þe cure, thru þe wrocht is But ony medycyne ore gris [L. medicamentis aut herbis]. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 145 Euery gras that groweth vp on roote she shal eek knowe. c 1400 Rowland & Otuel 993 To hym commes þat lady clere & greses broghte þat fre, Þat godd sett in his awenn herbere. c 1440 Boctus (Laud MS. 559 lf. 4 b), Many a grasse and many a tree. 1587 L. Mascall Gov. Cattle, Horses (1627) Index, The fiue grasses that draw a wound. Oculus Christi, Madder, Buglosse [etc.]. |
| fig. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xv. 23 Grace is a gras ther-fore to don hem eft growe. |
b. One of the non-cereal Gramineæ, or any species of other orders resembling these in general appearance. Often preceded by a defining word, with which it forms the designation of some particular species; as
blue-,
bunch-,
dog-,
St. John's,
saw-,
silk-,
spear- (etc.)
grass, for which see those words.
grass of the Andes: an oat-grass,
Arrhenatherum avenaceum.
grass of Parnassus (also
Parnassus grass): a name for
Parnassia palustris.
Turner speaks of the ‘right’ or ‘true’ grass, intending to indicate one particular species of plant as properly entitled to the name; but his notions seem to have been vague. He regarded the ‘true’ grass as identical with ‘great grass’.
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbes 41 Gramen is called.. in english great grass. 1562 ― Herbal. ii. 13 The roote of the right Grasse brused and layde to byndeth woundes together an closeth them vppe. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. li. 509 Of the grasse of Parnasus..This herbe groweth in moyst places. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ccxciv. 692 Parnassus Grasse, or white Liuerwoort. 1854 S. Thomson Wild Fl. iii. (ed. 4) 230 One of the handsomest of our moss plants, the Parnassia palustris, or grass of Parnassus. |
c. In agricultural use: Any of the species of plants grown for pasture, or for conversion into hay.
| 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 153 Grasses, the usual name for any Herbage sown for Cattle, especially if perennial. 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 25 This should be more particularly attended to on rotation grasses, where rye-grass forms very often a large proportion of the herbage. |
d. Bot. Any plant belonging to the family Gramineæ (Graminaceæ), which includes most of the plants called ‘grass’ in the narrower popular sense (see 1) together with the cereals (barley, oats, rye, wheat, etc.), the reeds, bamboos, etc.
| 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Aiguillette, Aiguillettes d'armes, the hearbe, or grasse, called Ladies laces, white Cameleon grasse, painted, or furrowed grasse. 1672 Grew Anat. Plants, Idea Philos. Hist. §11 Amongst the several Sorts of Grass, there are some which match all those of Corn; which is but a greater kind of Grass. 1759 B. Stillingfl. Observ. Grasses Misc. Tracts (1762) 365 By grasses are meant all those plants, which have a round, jointed and hollow stem. 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) I. 130 The great solicitude of nature for the preservation of grasses is evident from this; that the more the leaves are consumed, the more the roots increase. 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 379 Tabanus pratensis..Inhabits Europe, in meadows, the larvæ destroying the roots of grasses. 1869 Ruskin Q. of Air §79 The grasses are essentially a clothing for healthy and pure ground. 1887 Chamb. Jrnl. IV. 583 Oil or otto of geranium..is produced in India..by distillation of andropogon grasses with water. |
3. An individual plant of grass
† or corn; a blade or spire of grass. Now only in
pl., and somewhat
rare.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 31 Vch gresse mot grow of graynez dede. c 1350 Will. Palerne 27 Þat litel child listely lorked out of his caue.. to gadere of þe grases þat grene were & fayre. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 263 (Pepys MS.) They wer sett as thikk as owches Full of the fynest stones faire..As gresses growen in a mede. c 1440 Jacob's Well (E.E.T.S.) 214 Alle levis of treen, euery gresse on erthe, euery droppe of watyr in þe se & land. c 1460 Towneley Myst. i. 238 Gresys and othere small floures. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §20 Dernolde groweth vp streyght lyke an hye grasse. a 1533 Frith Wks. (1573) 75 If euery grasse of the ground were a man as holy as euer was Paule or Peter. 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 12 b, In midst of all, thy sconse is balde: there allies are to see: Wherein not half a grasse doth growe so bald, and bare they be. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 11 In the Country all about this City, there is not so much as a grasse to be seen. 1848 Dickens Dombey i, Strange grasses were sometimes perceived in her hair. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxi, I take the grasses of the grave, And make them pipes whereon to blow. |
4. † a. The blade stage of growth, in
phr. in the grass (
lit. and
fig.); corn in the blade.
Obs.| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark iv. 28 Forðon eorðo wæstmiað ærist gers [c 1000 Ags. Gosp. gærs], æfterðon ðone ðorn, soðða full hwæte in eher. 1340 Ayenb. 28 Þet corn..is uerst ass ine gerse, efterward ine yere. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 432/1 Our faith is yet in the grasse. 1589 Greene Orpharion Wks. (Grosart) XII. 34 Fancy long helde in the grasse, seldom prooues a timely Haruest. 1613 [see grain n.1 1 b]. 1733 J. Tull Horse-Hoing Husbandry 71 note 2 Wheat falls sometimes whilst 'tis in Grass, and before it comes into Ear. |
b. Gardening. Applied to the young shoots of the onion. Also, the young shoots of the carnation.
| 1820 T. Hogg Pract. Treat. Culture of Carnation 48 The propagation by piping..ought to commence as soon as the shoots or grass is [sic] ready. 1836 N. Paterson Manse Garden (1860) 189 The young shoots [of carnations] near the ground which do not run to flower are denominated grass. Ibid. 190 Pipings (as the grass shoots taken off and stuck in the ground are called)..will take root. 1885 Sutton Cult. Veget. & Fl. 81 The Onion makes a weak grass that cannot well push through earth that is caked over it. 1925 W. Watson Gardener's Assistant (ed. 4) V. 22/1 The ‘grass’, or young growths produced at the base of the plant, form the layers. |
5. a. Pasture; the condition of an animal at pasture. In phrases
(to be, run) at grass,
to go, put, send, turn (out) to grass.
| 1471 Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. No. 670 III. 7 That Phelypp Loveday put the othyr horse to gresse ther. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §85 It wyl leaste appere, whan he [the horse] is at grasse. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 75 In Cheapside shall my Palfrey go to grasse. 1607 Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658) 313 Let him rest, or run at grasse for a week or more. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn. Pestle iv. v, The sturdy steed now goes to grass, and up they hang his saddle. 1650 R. Gell Serm. 8 Aug. 21 Nebuchadnezzar was put to grasse. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 257 His Elephant..being then at Grasse, it was so long ere they could bring him. 1674 tr. Martiniere's Voy. N. Countries 77 Our Guids unharnessed our Elks and turn'd them to Grass. 1675 Lond. Gaz. No. 988/4 Lost at Grass April 9..a bay Gelding. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 34 Turn them out in Summer time to Grass. 1753 J. Bartlet Gentl. Farriery i. 4 Horses, whose feet have been impair'd by quitters..or any other accidents, are also best repaired at grass. 1855 Tennyson Brook 139 The Squire had seen the colt at grass. |
b. fig. The phrases under 5 a are applied to persons, with the notion of being dismissed from one's position or ‘rusticated’, or of going away for a holiday, being free from fixed engagements, etc.
| 1589 Hay any Work 6 If his worship and the rest of the noble clergie Lords weare turned out to grasses. 1630 J. Taylor Wks. (Water P.) ii. 110/1 Wiues might vnable husbands turne to grasse. 1646 Unhappy Game Sc. & Eng. 12 When the king hath got all, hell turne your brethren to grasse. 1673 Dryden Marr. à la Mode iii. i, When I have been at grass in the summer, and am new come up [to town] again. 1700 Congreve Way of World iii. xviii, I'll turn my wife to grass. 1786 Mackenzie Lounger No. 78 ¶6 [Our three boys] were sent to an academy in Yorkshire, to grass, as my husband phrased it. 1794 Gentl. Mag. Dec. 1085 Soho, Jack!..very nigh being sent to grass, hey? 1801 in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1802) V. 361 Then no longer let mortals repine, If to grass sent from Oxon or Granta. 1838 D. Jerrold Men of Charac. II. xvii. 264, I think I can send you to grass somewhere in Essex. 1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. 64 He had long been an author at grass, and had no mind..again to wear the collar. |
¶ Misused for
grease n. 1 b.
| c 1650 Carle off Carlile in Percy Folio III. 64 The gray hounds..drew downe the deere of grasse. |
6. Pasture sufficient for the animal or number of animals specified; grazing.
| 858 Charter of æthelberht in O.E. Texts 438, IIII oxnum gers. 1493 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 164 Pro j hors gresse in parva prata apud Topclyf, 2s. 1790 Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial. (1821) 14 Yee mun kna we tewk sum gerse for her. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 59 They have not only a house, but generally a cow's grass to afford milk to their families. 1880 in Daily News 13 Dec. 3/1 There is not as much as the grass of a goat. |
7. a. Land on which grass is the permanent crop; pasture-land. Also, the condition of such land. Also
† to lay to grass.
| 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 86 Moueable escheit is, as be pasturing of cattell or beastes in the lands, or girse of Lords sundrie tymes. 1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. to People 99 Half the lands of a farm, but more particularly of a small or middling one, ought to be grass. 1793 Washington Lett. Writ. 1891 XII. 400 Preparing the second lot of the mile swamp for the purpose of laying it to grass. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 13 Nov. 6/2 At that time the whole of the land was under cultivation. Now the land had all gone down to what people called grass, but he called it weeds. |
b. with reference to the hunting-field.
| 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. 28 ‘I'm going down to the grass.’ ‘Grass!’ grunted the listener. ‘Where be that?’ ‘Well, I'm going to see what sport they have in the Shires.’ 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset I. xxiv. 204 A man very well known both in the City and over the grass in Northamptonshire. |
8. The yearly growth of grass; hence, the season when the grass grows, spring and early summer.
eating its fifth grass: in its fifth year.
| 1485 Sc. Acts Jas. III (1814) II. 170/2 It is thocht expedient..that our souueran lord causs his Justice airis to be haldin vniuersaly in al partis of his Realme, twys in þe ȝere anys on the girss, and anys on the Corne. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iv. Handie-crafts 415 Whom seven-years-old at the next grass he ghest. 1649 Davenant Love & Honour v. Dram. Wks. 1873 III. 184 She writes a hundred and ten, sir, next grass. 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2061. 2/2 A Black brown Gelding..six years old last Grass. 1705 Ibid. No. 4120/3 Every Owner..must send a Certificate from the Breeder that his Horse is really no more then 6 the Grass before he Runs. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 312 Good wedders, eating their fifth grass, sold in the year 1793 at eighteen shillings. 1826 Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. 49 She is five years old this grass. 1859 G. Meredith R. Feverel xxiv. (1885) 181 When did ye meet?—last grass, wasn't it? |
9. a. The grassy earth, grass-covered ground;
esp. ground covered with grass closely mown and rolled, forming a lawn in a public or private garden. Phr.
keep off the grass: a notice frequently posted in a park or garden to which the public are admitted; also used
fig. as a warning not to take liberties, encroach, or interfere.
† In early use
into grass,
under grass = into or in the grave.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 5811 ‘Lauerd’, he said, ‘I ber a wand’. ‘Þou kest it on þe gress, i bidd’; ‘Gladli, lauerd’, and sua he didd. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 245 In to gresse þou me aglyȝte. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 361 The gress woux off the blud all rede. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 45 Forth she wente prively..All softe walkend on the gras. c 1400 Gamelyn 69 A-none as he was dede & under gras graue. 1773–83 Hoole Orl. Fur. xxiii. 39 On the verdant grass, Beneath the covering trees, her limbs she throws. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xvi, They were two men who were seated in easy attitudes upon the grass. [1846 Punch 12 Sept. 113/2 If from the gravel pathway hard He turn to tread the verdant sward,..What bids his happy dream to pass?—‘Get off the Grass! Get off the Grass!’] 1850 Punch 5 Oct. 144/1 The public, who are here and there ‘requested to keep off the grass’. 1877 ‘Rita’ Vivienne i. i, The grasses are crimsoned with tulips; every nook is sweet with odours of sheltered violets. 1897 W. S. Maugham Liza of Lambeth v. 59 ‘Na then,’ she said, ‘keep off the grass!’ [i.e. don't take liberties with me]. 1904 Daily Chron. 27 Oct. 4/7 ‘Now, then, some girl can tell me about grass. What is grass?’ The protagonist of the class..gave the definition. ‘Please, it's what you got to keep off of.’ 1925 P. Gibbs Unchanging Quest xxi. 156 Of course you wouldn't be left alone to do what you like under some forms of government. Not entirely under ours, as you'll find if you don't keep off the grass, old lad. 1953 K. Amis Lucky Jim xx. 211 What I want to say to you is, keep off the grass, that's all. You're causing nothing but trouble by behaving as you are. |
b. The earth's surface above a mine. Also
to be at grass,
to bring, come to grass.
| 1776 Pryce Min. Cornub. 322 Grass or at Grass, signifies on the surface of the earth. ‘Is Tom Treviscas under⁓ground?’ ‘No; he's at Grass.’ 1801 Hitchins in Phil. Trans. XCI. 160 One hundred and fifty-five fathoms below the surface, or, as the miners call it, from grass. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 32 The quantity [of mineral] brought to the surface, or, as it is technically called, to grass. 1855 Cornwall 288 Let us now watch the men ascending from the mine after work. This is what they call ‘coming to grass’. 1890 Goldfields Victoria 14 About 70 tons [of quartz] are now at grass awaiting crushing. |
c. slang. The ground.
to go to grass: to come to the ground, be knocked down; also (
U.S.) to die; to be ruined; in the imperative
= ‘go and be hanged’.
to send to grass: to fell to the ground, to knock down;
lit. and
fig. to hunt grass: be knocked down.
| a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Little Fr. Lawyer iv. v. (1647) 69 Away, good Sampson; You go to grass else instantly. 1816 Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 181 Lancaster..was..much exhausted, and soon found his way on the grass. 1848 Durivage Stray Subjects 95 A gentleman..declared that he might go to grass with his old canoe, for he didn't think it would be much of a shower, anyhow. 1872 Mark Twain Innoc. at Home ii. (1882) 271 When you get in with your left I hunt grass every time. 1876 Hindley Cheap Jack 237 Elias was sent to grass to rise no more off it. 1894 Nation (N.Y.) 18 Jan. 39/3 Several of the McKinleyites were sent to grass in the course of the debate. 1894 Sir J. D. Astley 50 Years Life I. 82, I naturally went to grass through having too much steam on to be able to pull up in time. |
d. Electr. A fuzzy appearance along the time base-line of a cathode-ray tube display due to random, fluctuating deflections caused by electrical noise.
| 1947 Amer. Speech XXII. 154 The radar-man..speaks of ‘losing the pip in the grass’. Ibid., Grass,..electronic haze at the bottom of the screen. 1957 Rawnsley & Wright Night Fighter iv. 58 ‘What's all that stuff?’.., ‘Grass,..it's like the background noise of a wireless set.’ 1961 Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1116/2 Grass was the normal ‘picture’ seen on certain types of radar cathode-ray tube, as distinct from the signals produced by aircraft, etc. It looked like waving grass. 1969 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 16 Feb. 1/3 ‘Grass’—useless noise from outer space. |
10. Short for
sparrow-grass, corrupt form of
asparagus. Now
vulgar.
| 1747 H. Glasse Cookery xiv. 234 Boil some Grass tender, cut it small and lay it over the Eggs. 1764 Foote Mayor of G. ii. Wks. 1799 I. 181 A hundred of grass from the Corporation of Garrat. a 1845 Hood Public Dinner 61 You then make a cut on Some Lamb big as mutton; And ask for some grass too. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. xx, Will you take any other vegetables? Grass? Peas? Summer Cabbage? 1898 Garden 1 May 318/1 In warm localities established beds will be affording a welcome supply of serviceable ‘grass’. |
11. Printing. Casual employment; jobbing work.
| 1888 Daily News 16 July 7/1 Good jobbing hands wanted on grass. 1893 Ibid 5 June 8/5 Reader (practical)..wants Two or Three Days' or Nights' Grass, or steady situation. |
12. slang. A police informer. (See also
grasser2,
grasshopper 1 c.)
| 1932 A. Gardner Tinker's Kitchen 283 Grass, an informer. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid ii. 22 Tell you the details and then you'll do the gaff on your jack..or else turn grass. 1954 ‘N. Blake’ Whisper in Gloom ii. 31 He was a nark, nose, snout, grass, squeaker, or whatever coarse word is current for it. 1955 P. Wildeblood Against Law 105 ‘What are grasses?’ I asked. ‘Informers. Short for {oqq}grasshoppers{cqq}, which is rhyming slang for {oqq}shoppers{cqq}, meaning people who go to the cop-shop and squeal on their friends.’ 1961 Guardian 6 Dec. 4/5 Throughout the gaols..the word ‘grass’ is an abbreviation for grass-snake, which..means informer. |
13. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple attributive, as
grass-blade,
grass-bud,
grass-country,
grass-fen,
grass-field,
grass-ground,
grass-haulm,
grass-heath,
grass-holding,
grass-holm,
grass-park,
grass-patch,
grass-path,
grass-pollen,
grass-prairie,
grass-ranch,
grass-road,
grass-seed,
grass-shears,
grass-slope,
grass-spire,
grass-stalk,
grass-stem,
grass-track,
grass-tuft,
grass-veld (S.
Afr.),
grass-walk;
grass-like adj. b. objective or objective genitive, as
grass-catcher,
grass-champer,
grass-eater,
grass-farmer,
grass-mower;
grass-clipping,
grass-mowing (in
quot. attrib.),
grass-picking vbl. ns. c. instrumental, as
grass-bowered,
grass-carpeted,
grass-clad,
grass-covered,
grass-cushioned,
grass-embroidered,
grass-fed,
grass-grown,
grass-muffled,
grass-roofed,
grass-woven adjs. d. parasynthetic, as
grass-leaved adj.| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. viii, Through every *grass-blade. 1934 T. S. Eliot Rock ii. 84 Glow-worm glowlight on a grassblade. 1949 E. Pound Pisan Cantos lxxxiii. 124 When the mind swings by a grass-blade an ant's forefoot shall save you. |
| 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath (1808) 45 Larks, descending to their *grass-bowered homes. |
| 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 126 Pondering shadows, colors, clouds, *Grass-buds and caterpillar-shrouds. |
| 1889 Westgarth Austral. Progr. 253 Pretty vistas of *grass-carpeted open forests. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 392/3 *Grass Catcher..has new device for attaching to mower. 1971 CGA Ann. Price List 39/2 Motor Mowers..(4-stroke) complete with grass catcher. |
| 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe 25 All the foure footed rablement of herbagers and *grasse champers. |
| 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. ii. 456 Midst sunny *grass-clad meads. |
| 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. 73 He lifted the astonished Sam, shears, *grass-clippings and all, right through the window. 1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. Austral. & N.Z. iv. 68 Lawn mowings in Beatrix Potter's The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies was rendered grass clippings. |
| 1875 W. S. Hayward Love Agst. World 10 A beautiful *grass-country. |
| 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 154 A *grass-covered..region. |
| 1861 W. F. Collier Hist. Eng. Lit. 400 The *grass-cushioned crags of Sandy-Knowe. |
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, lv, Hee [Soliman] only swept the Grasse, They the *Grasse-Eaters. |
| 1894 T. Tilton Chameleon's Dish 5 Odin's coast With all its twenty-thousand bays And *grass-embroidered water-ways. |
| 1894 Times 10 Dec. 10/4 The grass land being occupied by *grass farmers. |
| 1638 Penkethman Artach. I iij b, A *grasse fed Ox 16s. 1880 Vermont Agric. Rep. VI. 26 Time was when the butchers of Brighton claimed that they could distinguish between the grass-fed beef fattened in this valley, and that from other sections, by its superior quality. 1892 A. C. Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 213 What's champagne muscle to grass-fed muscle, you dainty cut of New York. 1960 Times 1 Oct. 7/6 Grass-fed cattle. |
| 1865 Kingsley Herew. I. Prel. 16 The rich *grass-fen. |
| 1806 J. Grahame Birds Scot. 9 Joined by her mate [she] to the *grass-field flies. |
| 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ix. (ed. 2) 225 This plough is used for breaking up *grass-ground. 1788 Cowper Lett. 21 Feb., Abounding with beautiful grass-grounds, which encompass our village. |
| 1735 Thomson Liberty iv. 718 Desolating Famine, who delights In *grass-grown Cities, and in desart Fields. 1865 Kingsley Herew. I. i. 27 The great labyrinth of grass-grown banks. |
| 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 845 The nodes of *grass-haulms. |
| 1936 Discovery Jan. 24/2 The unique ‘*grass-heath’ of fescue and bent grasses. 1964 V. J. Chapman Coastal Veget. vi. 148 Many of them can be regarded as ‘grass-heath’ species. |
| 1894 Times 10 Jan. 6/4 A *grass-holding which he could use for the benefit of himself and his family. |
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. l, It wad be better laid out on yon bonny *grass-holms, than lying useless here in this auld pigg. |
| 1830–7 M{supc}Gillivray Withering's Brit. Plants (ed. 4) xxiii. 377 Atriplex littoralis. *Grass-leaved Sea Orache. 1883 F. M. Bailey Synop. Queensld. Flora 693 Grass-leaved fern. |
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 7 Leaves thread-shaped, *grass-like. |
| 1894 Country Gentlemen's Catal. 240 A ‘Stamford’ *Grass Mower. 1913 W. J. Locke Stella Maris xii. 165 The grass-mower driven over the grass. |
| 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 14 In harvest and *grass-mowing time. |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 2 Our steeds, with slow *grass-muffled hoofs Tread deep the shadows through. |
| 1806 Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 557 The surface is agreeably diversified with hill and dale, heath, moss, meadow, corn, and *grass parks. |
| 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1884) II. xxxiii. 19 In a *grass-patch. |
| 1828 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. 156 Mrs. Lucas..was walking pensively up and down the *grass-path of the pretty flower-court. |
| 1802 Edin. Rev. I. 221 *Grass-picking is only known in the windward islands. |
| 1921 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. VIII. 473 Liefmann..found 2,500,000 grains of *grass pollen in one square meter. 1957 Granta 9 Mar. 19/2 The girl sneezed with the grass-pollen. |
| 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. i. 11 This is the ‘*grass-prairie’, the boundless pasture of the bison. |
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 20 May 4/1 One of the main objects of the Bill was to get rid of the agricultural slums by splitting up the *grass-ranches. |
| 1846 W. E. Forster 28 Sept. in Reid Life (1888) I. vi. 183 The *grass roads here [in Ireland] are far better than our Yorkshire roads. |
| 1828 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 104 The wretched stone and turf-walled and *grass-roofed hovels they inhabit. |
| 1765 Mus. Rust. IV. 383 *Grass-seeds gathered clean from the fields. 1880 Vermont Agric. Rep. VI. 32, I cannot recommend the use of oats in connection with grass seed. 1965 R. Tucker & Sons Catal. (Autumn) 48 We have considerable experience of Lawn Grass Seed... Many types of grass seed sold are quite unsuitable for making good lawns. |
| 1770 Waring in Phil. Trans. LXI. 372 On the *grass-slopes here. |
| 13.. Adultery 113 in Archiv Stud. d. neu. Spr. LXXIX. 420 Þow euery *gress-spyre were a preste Þat growyth upon goddys grounde Owte of þese-peyns þei cowd not me relese. 1867 ‘T. Lackland’ Homespun i. 99 The busy spiders..had spun slenderest ropes of very gossamer, and swung them across from one grass spire to another. |
| 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. 49 Ere he reached the *grass-track he meant to follow, the fog was denser than ever. |
| 1891 Kipling Light that Failed i. 10 Maisie was picking *grass-tufts. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 11 Dec. 16/1 Only recovering his feet after much floundering in one of the sandy hollows which occur between the grass-tufts. 1933 R. Tuve Seasons & Months iv. 165 Shepherds tending sheep on green grass-tufts. |
| [1844 J. Backhouse Narr. S. Afr. 115 The Hottentots..could obtain from one to two rixdollars a day in the *Gras Veld, grass field.] 1958 Cape Argus 1 Nov. (Mag. Section) 11/1 We have exchanged..grassveld for karoo. 1971 Nature 6 Aug. 374/3 This animal originally occurred extensively in..the central and southern Cape grassveld. |
| 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 44 We usually make a *Grass-walk in the Middle. |
| 1885 Century Mag. XXIX. 657/2 His [the Bedouin's] drinking-vessels are gourds and *grass-woven bowls. |
14. Special comb., as
† grass-acre = grass-earth;
grass-bar, a bar in a river, inlet, or harbour overgrown with grass (
Cent. Dict.);
grass-bass, a freshwater edible fish (
Pomoxys sparoides) of the
U.S.;
† grass-bed,
poet. one's grave, also, the ‘field’ on which a warrior dies;
grass-beef, the flesh of grass-fed oxen;
grass-bird, (
a) a name for various American sandpipers,
esp. Tringa maculata; (
b) in Australasia, one or more species of
Sphenœacus;
grass-bleached pa. pple., bleached by exposure on grass; so
grass-bleaching vbl. n.;
grass-box, the receptacle on a lawn-mower into which the cut grass is projected;
grass-butter, butter made from the milk of cows at grass;
grass-captain Cornwall (see
quot. and
captain n. 8);
grass carp, a vegetarian fish,
Ctenopharyngodon idella, native to Asia, sometimes introduced elsewhere to control aquatic vegetation;
grass-cat (see
quot.);
grass-chat = whinchat;
grass-cock, one of the small cocks into which grass is formed from the windrow;
grass-cold, a slight cold or catarrh affecting horses;
grass-comber, a sailor's term for one who has been a farm-labourer;
† grass-corn,
Phalaris canariensis;
grass court, a grass Lawn Tennis court;
grass-cut = grass-cutter (a);
grass-cutter, (
a) [corruption of a synonymous Hindustani
ghāskaṭ,
ghāskaṭā], in India, a native employed to cut and bring in grass for horses; (
b)
= grass-hand (a); (
c)
slang (see
quots.); (
d)
= cane-rat (
cane n.1 10);
grass-drake = corn-crake;
grass-eating a. = grass-feeding adj.;
grass-feeding a., graminivorous;
grass-finch, (
a) a common American sparrow (
Poœcetes gramineus); (
b) any Australian finch of the genus
Poëphila;
grass fire, a fire that destroys an area of grass;
grass-fish (see
quot.);
grass-flesh, the flesh gained by an animal ‘at grass’ (in
quot. fig.);
grass-frog, the common frog,
Rana temporaria;
† grass-girl, ? a woman of loose character;
grass grub, a New Zealand grass-eating grub, the larva of a cockchafer beetle,
Odontria zealandica;
grass-guard, a man or body of men in charge of animals grazing;
grass-hand, (
a) a compositor temporarily engaged; (
b) an irregular cursive hand used by the Chinese and Japanese in business and private writing;
grass hawser Naut. (see
grass rope below);
grass hockey Canad., hockey played on grass, as
opp. ice hockey;
grass-hole U.S. (see
quot.);
† grass-honey, ? honey collected from the flowers of grass;
grass-hook, a sickle for cutting grass;
grass-horse, ? a horse ‘at grass’, or one living exclusively on grass;
grass-house,
† (
a) the cottage of a
grassman; (
b)
= next;
grass-hut, in India and Polynesia, a hut with walls and roof of grass-stalks;
grass-ill, a disease of lambs (see
quot.);
grass-lamb, (
a) a lamb suckled by a dam which is running on pasture land and giving rich milk; (
b) the flesh of the same;
grass-lawn, a fine gauze-like material, the colour of unbleached linen, suitable for summer dresses;
grass-line (
a)
N.Z., the line or level on a mountain above which no grass grows; (
b)
= grass rope;
grass-linen, a kind of fine grass-cloth;
† grass-mail, rent for grass or the privilege of grazing;
grass-mare, a mare ‘at grass’ (
cf. grass-horse);
grass-meal Sc., so much grass as will keep an animal for the season;
† grass-money, ? money received for the grazing of animals on the common land of a parish;
grass-moth, one of many small moths of the genus
Crambus or family Crambidæ, found in dry meadows;
grass-nail (see
quot. 1851);
† grass-nurse, a wet-nurse;
grass-oil, one of several fragrant essential oils, obtained in India by distillation from grasses (
Andropogon and other genera), and used in perfumery;
grass-orphan nonce-wd. [after grass-widow], a child whose parents have gone away for a time;
† grass-ox, a grass-fed ox, an ox ‘at grass’;
grass-parakeet, an Australian parakeet of the genus
Euphema or
Melopsittacus;
grass-parrot, a small brightly-coloured Australian parrot of the genus
Neophema or
Psephotus;
† grass-pen , an enclosed piece of land planted with grass;
grass-pile Sc., a blade of grass;
grass-pink U.S. (see
quot.);
† grass-poly, a book-name for
Lythrum Hyssopifolia;
grass-potato (see
quot.);
grass-quit, one of several finches of tropical America,
esp. species of
Phonipara;
grass-right Austral., a right of pasturage;
grass rope Naut., a rope made of coir;
grass scythe, a scythe for mowing grass;
† grass-sea, the Sargasso sea;
grass-seeder N.Z., a person who gathers grass-seed for sale; also
attrib.; hence
grass-seeding vbl. n., the act of gathering grass-seed;
† grass-sick a. (see
quot. and
cf. grass-ill);
grass sickness, an equine disease, usually fatal, which can occur when a horse is put on to certain pastures;
grass-siding, a border of grass at the side of a road;
† grass-silver, money paid for grass or grazing;
grass skirt, a skirt made from long grass and leaves secured to a waistband,
orig. worn by the hula dancers of some Pacific islands;
grass-snake, (
a) the common ringed snake (
Tropidonotus natrix); (
b) the common green snake of the United States;
grass-snipe U.S. = grass-bird (a);
grass-sparrow = grass-finch (a);
grass-spirit, spirit distilled from grasses;
grass-sponge, an inferior kind of sponge from Florida and the Bahamas;
grass-spring poet., the springing up of grass, renewal of vegetation;
grass staggers = grass tetany;
grass-table Arch. = earth-table;
† grass-taffety (
cf. grass-cloth);
grass verge, a strip of grass at the side of a garden path or road;
grass-warbler Austral., a bird of the genus
Cisticola;
grass-way = grass-siding;
grass-weed = grass-wrack;
† grass-week (see
quot.);
grass-work,
† (
a) a piece of lawn for ornamental purposes; (
b) the work of a mine that is carried on above ground (
cf. 9 b); hence
grass-worker;
† grass-worm, an earth-worm;
grass-wrack, a seaweed (
Zostera marina), with grass-like leaves;
grass wren, any of several small Australian birds of the genus
Amytornis;
grass-yard = green-yard 3. Also
grass-cloth,
grass-earth,
grass-plat, -plot, grass-widow, etc.
| c 1300 Battle Abbey Custumals (1887) 60 Et vocatur ista arrura *grasacra. Ibid. 66 Præter Garsacram operandam. |
| 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXX. 437/2 The calico, or *grass bass, a showy, mottled fellow, sometimes a foot long. |
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. cii[i]. 15 Þonne he gast ofᵹifeð, syþþan hine *gærs⁓bedd sceal wunian. c 1205 Lay. 23985 Uppen þan gras⁓bedde his gost he bi-læfde. |
| 1521 Ld. Dacres in Archæol. XVII. 203 Ther is, whiche shal alwey be redie, unto *grisse Beif com, vj fed oxen. 1573 Tusser Husb. xii. (1878) 28 When Mackrell ceaseth from the seas, John Baptist brings grassebeefe and pease. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 371 These are disposed of to English and south country drovers, for grass-beef. 1784–5 *Grass-bird [see grass-finch below]. 1847 in Gosse Birds Jamaica 252 The Grass-birds remind me much of the European Sparrow. 1865 Gould Handbk. Birds Austral. I. 399 Sphenœacus galactotes, Tawny Grass-bird. Ibid. 400 Sphenœacus gramineus, Little Grass-bird. 1893 Newton Dict. Birds, Grass-bird, a general name in America..for the smaller Sandpipers..but applied by Gould..to two species of Australian birds which he referred to the genus Sphenœacus of Strickland. |
| a 1845 Hood Sonn., On Mrs. Nicely, Spotless in linen, *grass-bleached in her fame. |
| 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Aunt Fanny, ‘*Grass-bleaching’ will bring it To rights ‘in a jiffy’. |
| 1894 Country Gentlemen's Catal. 289 The *Grass Box can be placed either behind or in front of the cutters. |
| 1660 Hexham Dutch Dict., Begrasde boter, *grasse butter. |
| 1776 Pryce Min. Cornub. 174 The *Grass-Captain, who directs the separation of the Ore again above ground. 1855 Cornwall 137 ‘Grass captains’..being engaged chiefly on the surface works, or ‘at grass’. |
| 1885 D. J. MacGowan in Bull. U.S. Fish Comm. V. 240 Some [Chinese minnows] fatten on grass, and are called ‘*grass carp’. 1964 Listener 17 Sep. 429/1 Grass carp have been keeping Chinese rivers clear of weed for millions of years, and they have been cultivated for food in Chinese fishponds for the past 2,000 years. 1971 Nature 15 Jan. 154/1 The Asiatic grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, a gross browser on aquatic vegetation. |
| 1892 W. H. Hudson Nat. La Plata 14 The *grass-cat not unlike Felis catus..but a larger, more powerful animal. |
| 1845 Zoologist III. 1058 Whinchat or *Grasschat, Saxicola rubetra. |
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 33 They..putte two or three *grasse-cockes inone. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 385 These lesser staddles, though last spread, are first turned, then those which were in grass-cocks. |
| 1812 Singer Agric. Surv. Dumfries 380 There is a *grass-cold, as the farmers call it, that seldom does much harm, or lasts long. |
| 1832 Sir J. Campbell Mem. I. xi. 293 Passengers of the class which is known by the name of *grass-combers. 1887 Besant The World Went II. xxix. 309 Luke was a grass comber and a land swab. |
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbes 62 Phalaris..because it is partly lyke grasse and partly lyke corne, it may be called *grasse corne. 1659 Torriano, Fal{uacu}ride [sic], the weed Grasse-corn. |
| 1883 Lawn Tennis for 1883 98 One of the most important accessories to a *grass court..is a good lawn mower. 1930 W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale iv. 48 She's got quite a good grass court and she does one very well. |
| 1879 Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 46 If you keep horses, you will require a syce for each horse, and a *grasscut. |
| 1789 I. Munro Narr. Milit. Oper. Coromandel Coast iii. 28 An Horsekeeper and *Grasscutter at two pagodas. 1824 Bp. Heber Jrnl. (1828) II. 45, I should..give a gratuity of two rupees among the wood and grass-cutters. 1853 C. M. Smith Working-Man's Way in World ii. 20 My father was a grass-cutter for twenty years on the Morning ―. 1918 Independent 6 July 11 This plane with clipped wings which keep it no more than six feet above the ground is variously nicknamed by the aviators ‘grass-cutter’, ‘creeper’, ‘two-spot’. 1930 Brophy & Partridge Songs & Slang 1914–18 128 Grass-cutters, small bombs dropped by aeroplanes on camps and bivouacs behind the lines, bursting on hitting the ground and scattering shrapnel pellets at a low level. 1944 Word Study Apr. 4/2 Grass Cutter. This is what pilots call the A-20A Attack Plane because it flies so low. 1946 G. S. Cansdale Animals W. Afr. 62 Next in size is the Cutting Grass, Grass Cutter or Cane Rat. 1961 Times 12 May 18/7 We had also acquired a dried grass-cutter, a sort of bush-rat. |
| 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 177 *Grass drake. |
| 1888 Amer. Naturalist XXII. 260 The *Grass-Eating Thrips. 1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions ix. 117, I have found you..and your grass-eating dogs as well! 1946 Nature 28 Dec. 928/2 The grass-eating, short-tailed, or meadow vole. |
| 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. iii. (1872) 58 *Grass-feeding quadrupeds. |
| 1784–5 Pennant Arct. Zool. (1792) II. 65 *Grass Finch..Inhabits New York..Called the Grey Grass-bird. 1865 Gould Handbk. Birds Austral. I. 421 Poëphila mirabilis, Beautiful Grass-Finch. Ibid. 422 Poëphila acuticauda, Long-tailed Grass-Finch. 1869 J. Burroughs in Galaxy Mag. Aug. 172 The field or vesper-sparrow, called also grass-finch. |
| 1882 W. R. Ludlow Zululand xxi. 182 As we approached the Umslatoos, we came in sight of an immense *grass fire. 1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xxii. 296 It must not be forgotten that a bush-fire or a grass-fire at a wrong season is one of the greatest causes of loss..to the stock-owner in Australia. 1927 W. Plomer I speak of Africa i. 13 Thirty miles away a grass-fire gave the air a bluish tinge. 1967 Evening News 2 Nov. 7/1 (heading) Clamp-down on grass-fires [on railway embankments]. |
| 1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Anim. Life 139 In Eastern seas we find the *grass-fish (Nemichthys) which is invariably seen upright among the grass it resembles. |
| 1803 Windham 9 Dec. in Amyot Sp. Parl. (1812) II. 131 They were men..who..had not yet got their *grass-flesh off. |
| 1901 H. Gadow Amphibia & Reptiles 253 The habits of the *Grass-frog are essentially terrestrial. 1931 H. W. Parker in W. P. Pycraft Standard Nat. Hist. xii. 498 The Common English Grass-frog may be taken as an example of the normal structure and commoner habits of the whole group. |
| 1691 J. Wilson Belphegor Prol., Dram. Wks. (1874) 291 What makes you leave a fair wife at home For a *grass-girl, or some odd homely Joan? |
| 1910 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. 15 Aug. 223 No means are yet known for the thorough control of the New Zealand *grass-grub. 1946 Nature 21 Dec. 920/1 The Entomology Division has focussed its attention on the grass-grub, the major insect pest affecting pastures [in N.Z.]. 1969 N.Z. News 9 Apr. 7/1 Grass grub and porina caterpillar, numbered among the most devastating of New Zealand pasture pests, face a three-pronged attack. |
| 1751 Lady Luxborough Let. to Shenstone 27 May, My eyes have..forty-three troop-horses to observe scampering..which, with the tent of the *grass-guards, really makes the scenery pretty. 1758 Washington Let. Writ. 1889 II. 57 We have been obliged, for the sake of our Cattle, to move the grass guard to Cresaps, 15 miles hence. |
| 1875 Southward Dict. Typogr. 44 It is a frequent occurrence for a casual *grass-hand to take more wages than a regular book-hand. 1881 M{supc}Clatchie in Encycl. Brit. XIII. 586/1 This style consists of the ordinary cursive hand..and also of what is termed the ‘grass’ hand, which is very much abbreviated and exceedingly difficult to acquire. 1897 *Grass hawser [see grass rope below]. |
| 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 2 Apr. 1/1 The Victoria *Grass Hockey Club is holding a practice this afternoon. 1964 Maclean's Mag. 16 Nov. 81/2, I..do solemnly swear never to waste company time arguing..or raving about..lawn bowling and grass hockey. |
| 1809 Kendall Trav. II. xxxviii. 39 [Ponds] that being filled only in the wet seasons, and affording grass in the dry, are denominated *grass-holes. |
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 908 From thence it takes the name of *grasse-honey..respect being had to those things from which it is collected or gathered. |
| 1812 Niles' Weekly Reg. II. 131/1 The purveyor of public supplies advertises for..1000 *grass hooks. 1858 J. A. Warder Hedges & Evergreens 97 Using for the purpose [of pruning] a strong knife about two feet long, or a common grass-hook. 1969 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 1079 Craftsman Grass Hook. Traditional scythe type, heat-treated, 12½-in. blade adjusts to two cutting angles. |
| c 1647 Boyle Mem. in Wks. 1744 I. Life 12 As when in summer we take up our *grass-horses into the stable, and give them store of oats, it is a sign, that we mean to travel them. 1691 Lond. Gaz. No. 2716/4 Stolen..a Grass Horse. |
| 1557 Richmond. Wills (Surtees 1853) 102 To every *grisse house within the parishe which hath no corne growing, one busshell of rye. 1892 J. Kennedy Mem. M. S. Kennedy v. 57 There was a grass-house belonging to a banya half a mile in another direction. |
| 1884 Leisure Hour Feb. 84/1 The central building [of a house in Fiji]..formed the family sitting-room..Mr. L.'s room lay beyond—a *grass hut all by itself. |
| 1807 Duncan in Prize Ess. Highl. Soc. Scot. III. 351 When about three weeks old, and beginning to make grass a part of their food..a straggling lamb or two will sometimes die of what is called the *Grass ill. |
| 1747 H. Glasse Cookery xxi. 160 *Grass Lamb comes in in April or May. 1793 Misc. Ess. in Ann. Reg. 379/1 The vicinity to Smithfield market makes early grass-Lambs an object of considerable importance. |
| 1895 Daily News 2 Aug. 6/6 *Grass-lawn..formed the material of many of the prettiest dresses. |
| 1892 C. E. Douglas in J. Pascoe Mr. Explorer Douglas (1957) 176 It is very common all along the ranges close to the *grass line. 1909 Man. Seamanship II. x. 180 A grass line attached to a breaker should be towed astern in case..the boat missed the towing ship. 1941 J. Masefield Nine Days Wonder 25 Various devices were tried for heaving off strings of boats together on messengers of grass-line. 1959 Tararua XIII. 45 Scrubline for the upper limit of the scrub seems to be confined to New Zealand as does the corresponding grassline. |
| 1866 Mrs. Whitney L. Goldthwaite viii. (1867) 175 A strip of sheer, delicate *grass-linen, which needle and thread..were turning into a cobweb border. |
| 1479 Acta Dom. Conc. (1839) 41/1 He Resavit þe said scheipe in gresing fra þe said lady & tuke & is pait of his *gerss male þarfor. 1752 J. Stewart in Scots Mag. June (1753) 286/1, 10 l. Scots was in payment of the grass-mail of cattle. |
| a 1640 Massinger Very Woman iii. v, How she holds her nose up, like a jennet In the wind of a *grass-mare! |
| 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 322 The *grass-meal of a sheep..is valued at two or three shillings. |
| 1597 MS. Grassmen's Bk. St. Giles's, Durham, Delyvered of the *grasse money. |
| 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 136/1 Crambus, a genus of moths..called in England the Veneers, and sometimes *grass-moths. |
| 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl., *Grass-nail. 1851 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm (ed. 2) II. 339/1 The blade [of the scythe] is further supported by the addition of the light stay C, termed the grass-nail. |
| 1797 Monthly Mag. III. 34 Girls of this description, are..eagerly sought for, under the appellation of *grass-nurses. |
| 1844 Hoblyn Dict. Med., *Grass-oil of Namur, a volatile oil procured, according to Royle, from the Andropogon Calamus aromaticus. 1887 C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 454 The oil produced in the Namar district of the Nerbudda Valley is sometimes called grass-oil of Namar. |
| 1893 Sarah Grand Heavenly Twins (1894) iii. ii. 252 Poor *grass-orphans. |
| a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. 17 [Solomon had] dayly x stalled oxen very great and xx great *grasse oxen. |
| 1840 J. Gould in Proc. Zool. Soc. VIII. 147 Those [birds] now exhibited were three new species of small *Grass Parrakeets. 1848 ― Birds Austral. V. pl. 37 Euphema chrysostoma, Blue-banded Grass-Parrakeet. [Six other species named.] 1884–5 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) IV. 355 The zebra grass-parakeet, Melopsittacus undulatus. |
| 1913 G. M. Mathews List Birds Austral. 138 Neophema pulchella. Red-shouldered *Grass-Parrot. 1936 A. Russell Gone Nomad vi. 44 ‘It's out there!’ he continued pointing to a flock of budgerigars flashing across the plain. ‘Them grass parrots are makin' in fer it.’ 1966 Eastman & Hunt Parrots of Australia 153 Characteristics of Neophema Group... Known as Grass Parrots because they are strictly ground-feeders on grass and herbaceous seeds. |
| 1790 J. B. Moreton Mann. W. Ind. 57 One hundred oxen..will require a good convenient *grass-penn to feed them. |
| 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 92 The *gers pilis. 1746 E. Erskine Serm. Wks. 1871 III. 320 The rocks and trees and grass piles. |
| 1894 Harper's Mag. Mar. 566 The sweet pogonia or *grass-pink of our sedgy swamps (Pogonia ophioglossoides). |
| 1633 Johnson Gerarde's Herbal ii. clxxviii. 581 Cordus first mentioned it, and that by the Dutch name of *Grasse Poley, which name we may also very fitly retaine in English. |
| 1764 Mus. Rust. I. 356 There are several ways of breeding potatoes in Ireland..First, On rich clay land without any manure, vulgarly called *grass potatoes. |
| 1847 Gosse Birds Jamaica 249 Yellow Face *Grass-Quit, Spermophila olivacea. [And other species.] 1893 Newton Dict. Birds, Grass-quit, applied in Jamaica to some species of the genus Phonipara, or..Euethia. |
| 1890 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 318 Their *grass-rights, their..herds and their flocks. |
| 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 147 Veer a buoy or small boat astern by the *grass rope [1897 (ed. 7) 141 by a grass hawser]. |
| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 37 A brush sithe and *grasse sithe. 1787 Washington Diaries (1925) III. 243 Called on my return at French's where I had begun with grass Scythes (a cradle having been found not to answer). 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 522 (caption) Double rib extra grade all steel grass scythe. |
| 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 219 From thence we pass'd to the Gras-Zee, or *Grass-Sea, so called from the Grass which grows there, so that the Sea appears just like a Meadow. |
| 1922 C. G. Turner Happy Wanderer 211 The official issue of clothing is a wide-brimmed ‘*grass-seeder’ straw hat. 1936 C. R. Allen Poor Scholar xix. 202 The grass-seeder would entrust his cheque to the squatter. |
| Ibid., *Grass-seeding is conducive to a princely thirst. Ibid. 204 Grass-seeding is rather characteristic of these parts [Banks Peninsula]. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 62 When Oxen come first of all after Winter to grasse, they fall *grasse-sick. |
| 1920 Glasgow Herald 9 Sept. 9 The discovery of a bipolar organism in *grass-sickness. 1923 Daily Mail 18 June 7 The disease in horses known as grass sickness which first appeared in Forfarshire in the summer of 1909... The principal symptoms are paralysis of the palate and gullet, causing inability to swallow. 1955 Gaiger & Davies Vet. Path. & Bacteriol. (ed. 4) xxix. 555 It would appear, therefore, as if little or no immunity is left by an attack of grass sickness. |
| 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 224 The *grass-siding of Orlantire Park wall favouring their design, they increased the trot to a canter. |
| 1346–7 Durham Acct. Rolls (Surtees) 743 *Gressiluer..Et in herbag. empt. pro Joh'e de Haliden Hospit. superuenient. et equis Hostillarii xi s. |
| [1898 J. R. Musick Hawaii vi. 79 Kalakaua's hula girls sometimes danced nude but the usual costume is a skirt made of grass, coming to the knees.] 1937 C. Gessler Hawaii xxix. 334 The *grass skirt introduced in Kalakaua's time survives in Hawaii mainly for sale to tourists. 1938 R. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 68 She loved to dance the hulas in that bright-coloured grass skirt. 1949 M. Mead Male & Female ii. 27 They [sc. anthropologists] are accused of having..put on a grass skirt or a loin⁓cloth. 1970 Observer (Colour Suppl.) 15 Feb. 20/2 Cruise passengers [are] very much in so far as the multitude of small shops selling dress materials and grass (plastic grass) skirts go. |
| 1863 Atkinson Stanton Grange 219, I seed a *grass-snake come out of the corn near me. 1884–5 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 370 With the common people it [Tropidonotus natrix] is known as the ringed or grass-snake, and is often tamed. |
| 1883 Encycl. Amer. I. 530/1 The *grass sparrows (Poœcetes gramineus). |
| 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 251 *Grass Spirit..procurable in great quantities from the various kinds of grass. |
| 1883 W. S. Kent in Fisheries Bahamas 47 Another variety of the coarse-fibred series is the *Grass-sponge (Spongia equina, var. cerebriformis). |
| 1840 Browning Sordello iii. 327 Leaf-fall and *grass-spring for the year:—for us! |
| 1883 *Grass staggers [see stagger n.1 2]. 1889 [see loco n.1]. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 29 Mar. 99/1 A disorder of cattle and sheep which is now more widespread than is generally realized has been christened with a host of names. The commonest is ‘grass staggers’, because it generally occurs in grazing animals and those which are affected tend to stagger. 1969 Times 13 Oct. 14/6 No accurate estimate has been made of the toll that grass staggers, or hypomagnesaemia, takes of beef cattle. |
| a 1490 Botoner Itin. in R. Willis Archit. Nomencl. Mid. Ages (1844) 26 Altitudo turris Sancti Stephani Bristoll continet in altitudine from the *grasse [glossed erth] table to the gargyle est 21 brachia, id est 42 virgas. c 1693 in Dict. Arch. (Arch. Publ. Soc.) s.v., A Bill of work done for y⊇ Lord Scudamore..at the two ends of the house, below y⊇ grass table. 1867 Gwilt Archit. Gloss. Add., Earth Table, or Ground Table, and Grass Table. |
| 1696 J. F. Merchant's Ware-ho. 27 This sort is made of the same stuff your *Grass Taffeties are. |
| 1824 Loudon Encycl. Gard. (ed. 2) §1338 Verge-shears..are chiefly used for trimming the sides of box-edgings and *grass-verges. 1930 Morning Post 12 June 12/5 He was within four feet of the grass verge and was unable to avoid the approaching motor cycle. 1937 Sunday Times 10 Jan., Nearly all the new roads have broad central ‘reserves’ and broad grass verges on each side. 1963 Radio Times 14 Mar. 5/1 Even if there was a grass verge or something handy to wipe a toe-cap you would have to lie face down and drag yourself along. |
| 1865 Gould Handbk. Birds Austral. I. 349 Great *Grass-warbler. Exile Grass-Warbler. Lineated Grass-Warbler. |
| 1927 Sunday Express 17 July 17/5 Sometimes the road was so bad that, dodging between the trees, they left it for the flat *grass⁓way beside it. |
| 1836 W. A. Bromfield Flora Vectensis 537 Zostera marina..*Grassweed. |
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Grass-week, rogation-week, so call'd in the Inns of Court and Chancery, because the commons of that week consist chiefly of sallets, with hard eggs, green sauce, etc. |
| 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 23 A *Grass-work, encompassed with Cases and Yews, with Water-works in the Middle. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Small pieces of grass-work, as knots, shell-work..cut-work..etc. must always be laid with turf. 1855 Cornwall 164 Here is the ‘grass-work’ of a great Copper Mine. |
| Ibid. 289 The *grass-workers..have stopped work. |
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 929, I have seen him [the hornet] to eat of *grasse worms. |
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants 554 *Grasswrack, Zostera. 1838 Audubon Ornith. Biogr. IV. 10 Its subsistence..is chiefly derived from the grass-wrack or Eel-grass, Zostera marina. 1961 R. W. Butcher New Illustr. Brit. Flora II. 595 The Common Grass-wrack or Eelgrass is a stout to slender, green, marine plant with compressed, keeled, much-branched stems. |
| 1898 Morris Austral Eng. 519/1 *Grass W[ren]... Called by Gould the Textile Wren. 1934 A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Australia xvii. 103 The grass wren he called the ‘jump⁓along’. 1965 Austral. Encycl. IV. 363 All grass-wrens, though able to fly fairly well, move mainly on foot, and with remarkable speed. |
| 1841 Tattersall Sport. Archit. 75 A *grass-yard adjoining the kennel. |
Add:
[14.] grass ski, a short ski mounted on small wheels or rollers used as one of a pair for skiing down grass- or straw-covered slopes.
| 1970 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 30 Oct. 10/3 Of the men's team of three, two had never seen a *grass-ski until a fortnight before. But they went ahead, and covered themselves with bruises. 1988 Guinness Bk. Records 1989 287/1 Grass skis were first manufactured by Josef Kaiser (West Germany) in 1963. |
so
grass skiing.
| 1970 Times 27 July 2/3 Beachy Head is one of several sites being examined by a committee set up by the ski club to promote *grass skiing. 1989 Scotland on Sunday 28 May 16 A variety of outdoor activities including archery, canoeing, orienteering, windsurfing, grass skiing and abseiling. |
▪ II. † grass, n.2 Obs. rare—1.
[a. F. gras (des cadavres).] = adipocere.
| 1793 Beddoes Sea Scurvy 96 The soap or grass is said..not to constitute above 1/10 or 1/12 of the body. |
▪ III. grass, v. (
grɑːs,
-æ-)
[f. grass n.1 Cf. graze v.1] † 1. trans. To plunge or sink in grass.
Obs.| c 1460 Towneley Myst. xii. 189 Primus Pastor. How pastures oure fee? Garcio. Thay ar gryssed to the kne. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1692) 20 One Arrow must be shot after another, though both be grast, and never found again. |
2. trans. † a. To feed (cattle) on grass, to
graze. Also, of land: To yield grass enough for.
Obs. b. To supply (cattle) with grass.
| c 1500 Three Kings Sons (E.E.T.S.) 112 They wolle likken me to a Bocher that gressith beestes. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. xix. (1539) 39 Howe many cattel it wyll grasse. 1584 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 15 Yt is..agreed..that everie iiij pounde rent within this parrishe..shal gras winter and somer one shepe. 1594 Privy Council 10 Mar. in Arb. Garner I. 301 For the..grassing of beefs and muttons. 1617 Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) I. 162 He to grass 14 hed of cattles till Michas. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 130 Breeding and grasseing Cattle. 1766 W. Gordon Gen. Counting-ho. 467 Grassing the highland cows. 1871 Blackie Four Phases i. 43 You expect..your cow when well grassed, to give good milk. |
3. a. intr. To produce grass, become covered with grass.
| 1573 Tusser Husb. xxxv. (1878) 84 With otes ye may sowe it, the sooner to grasse, more soone to be pasture to bring it to passe. 1861 Sir T. F. Buxton in Peaks, Passes, & Glaciers Ser. ii. I. 284 Three mighty ramparts..of which..the youngest has hardly commenced grassing on its outer side. |
b. trans. To cover with grass or turf. Chiefly with
advs. To lay
down turf upon; to enclose
in a grass-covered grave; to cover
over with a growth of grass, or with turf.
| 1832 L. Hunt Translations 242 I'd just as lief be buried, tomb'd and grass'd in. 1849 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. X. i. 18 If they plough it up and take a crop of oats..they leave it to time and nature to grass it over again. 1888 T. Hardy Wessex Tales I. 203 The new house had so far progressed that the gardeners were beginning to grass down the front. 1895 J. Brown Pilgrim Fathers viii. 211 The graves being levelled and grassed over. a 1900 Mod. I intend to have that piece of ground grassed. |
4. To lay or stretch on the grass or on the surface of the ground:
a. To lay out (flax, etc.) on grass for the purpose of bleaching.
| 1765 Mus. Rust. IV. 460 Short heath is the best field for grassing flax. Ibid. 461 Experience only can fully teach a person the signs of flax being sufficiently grassed. 1847 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VIII. ii. 455 It is not intended to grass the flax immediately that it is taken out of steep. |
b. slang, passing into general use: To knock or throw (an adversary) down; to fell;
spec. in Rugby and Australian National Football.
| 1814 Sporting Mag. XLIV. 70 A terrific blow on the mouth, which floored or grassed him. 1848 Dickens Dombey xliv, He was severely fibbed by the Larkey one, and heavily grassed. 1864 C. Clarke Box for Season II. 76 He..fell head foremost into the pit of Professor Sharp's stomach..grassing him at once. 1883 Besant All in Garden Fair I. Introd. 12 His foot caught in a tuft of grass, and he was grassed. 1937 in Partridge Dict. Slang. 1963 Times 13 June 13/3 In Rugby football no try could be simply converted; the oval had to be propelled through the uprights and players were not tackled but grassed. 1968 Eagleson & McKie Terminology Austral. Nat. Football ii. 13 Grass, knock a player to the ground by a hip or a shoulder bump. |
| fig. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 162 At the first facer Hume or Voltaire is grassed and gives in. |
c. To bring (a fish) to bank.
| 1856 Kingsley in Life (1877) I. 490 We'll..Whoop like boys at pounders Fairly played and grassed. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. iii. 52 The intense delight of grassing your first big fish after a nine months' fast. 1894 Field 9 June 832/1 One of the anglers..grassed six brace. |
d. To bring down (birds, game) by a shot.
| 1871 Daily News 8 Apr. 5 The excitement of grassing blue rocks. 1889 H. O'Reilly 50 Years on Trail 21, I lost no time in grassing another [antelope]. |
e. Cricket. To drop (a catch).
| 1960 E. W. Swanton W. Indies Revisited v. 124 Illingworth had a very sharp, low c and b chance from Sobers. He grassed it. |
5. intr. Of animals: To crop the grass; to graze.
| 1859 Cornwallis New World I. 198 The horses had been left grassing at a short remove. |
6. Trade slang. a. trans. To discharge from work for a time (usually for misbehaviour).
| 1881 Lanc. Gloss. s.v., What's up wi' yor Jim? Why, he wur drinkin'; and th' mestur grassed him for a fortnit. |
b. intr. Printing. To do casual or jobbing work. (
Cf. grass n. 11.)
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 19 Feb. 7/3 The society is dead against pluralists, and does not allow men with a full ‘claim’—i.e. 54 hours' work a week—to ‘grass’ anywhere else. |
7. Mining. To bring to the surface.
| 1890 Goldfields Victoria 28 This company have about 30 tons of good stone grassed from their 50 foot shaft. |
8. trans. and intr. To betray (someone); to inform the police about (someone). (
Cf. grass n.1 12.)
slang.| 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid xxvii. 269 Anyhow it was a dirty trick grassing his pals. 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock iii. ii. 118, I wouldn't grass, Spicer said, unless I had to. 1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights 86 What is more he didn't grass any one else. 1963 Daily Tel. 28 Feb. 15/7 (heading) ‘Grassing’ discussed at Co-op murder trial. Ibid., The underworld code dealing with criminals in prison who ‘grass’ or inform on colleagues was discussed. 1965 J. Porter Dover Two vii. 77 It won't come out! Not unless you start grassing. |