| 释义 |
▪ 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. *grasom, 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.
c725Corpus Gloss. 864 Fenum, graes. c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxiii. 173 Sua sua maneᵹra cynna wyrta & grasu beoð ᵹerad. c1000Andreas 38 (Gr.) Hie hiᵹ & gærs for meteleaste meðe ᵹedrehte. c1200Ormin 15467 Swa fele kinne wasstmess Off gresess, & off tres. c1205Lay. 3905 Þat heo frete þet corn & þat graes. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3049 Trees it for-brac, and gres, and corn. a1300Cursor M. 11109 (Gött.) He..liued wid rotis and wid grise [Cott. gress]. c1340Ibid. 4563 (Trin.) Floures & greses [other texts gress(e] þerynne I fond. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 388 Lilyes & grasse þat growen in þe felde. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xvi. 244 Bestes by gras & by greyn and by grene rotes. c1425Wyntoun Cron. i. xiii. 11 Sum steddys growys sa habowndanly Of Gyrs, þat [etc.]. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 296 Whan a flode rysyth up heye Gres goth undyr. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop v. i, Of a mule whiche ete grasse in a medowe nyghe to a grete forest. 1504Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 187 She hath no gresse to hir cattell. 1513Douglas æneis iii. iv. 25 Trippis eik of gait, but ony keipar, In the rank gersis pasturing on raw. 1549Compl. Scot. vi. 37, I past to the greene hoilsum feildis..to resaue the sueit fragrant smel of tendir gyrssis. 1597Middleton Wisdom Solomon xvi. 25 Is grass man's meat? no, it is cattle's food. 1637B. Jonson Sad Sheph. i. i, Her treading would not bend a blade of grasse! 1755J. McLaurin Serm. & Ess. 110 The least pile of grass is an effect of infinite power. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 315 Quadrupedes, that feed upon grass. 1817Coleridge Sibyll. Leaves (1862) 117 The grass was fine, the sun was bright. 1837Emerson 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. 1883Gd. Words 3 His foot caught in a tuft of grass. 1894Crockett Raiders xviii. 165 There's a handfu' o' girse to brew mair milk.
fig.1535Coverdale Is. xl. 6 All flesh is grasse [so later versions; Wyclif hei]. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. II. 12 Without running into the high grass of latent meanings and obscure allusions.
b. Proverbs.
c1440J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. ii. 253 The gray hors, whyl his gras growyth, May sterue for hunger, þus seyth þe prouerbe. c1530R. Hilles Common-Pl. Bk. (1858) 140 Whyle the grasse growyth the hors stervyth. 1869Hazlitt 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.
a1553Udall Royster D. iii. iii. (Arb.) 48 There hath grown no grasse on my heele since I went hence. 1588Greene Pandosto (1843) 13 Willing that the grasse should not be cut from under his feete. 1597–8Hall Sat., Defiance to Enuie 105 Needs me give grasse unto the conquerers. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 210 The hare..leaps away again, and letteth no grass grow under his feet. a1670Hacket 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. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 278 You are all this while cutting the grass under his feet. 1743Ellis 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. 1828Scott Jrnl. 29 Mar., I have let no grass grow beneath my heels this bout. 1848in Amer. Speech (1935) X. 40 Betwixt hay & grass, between Boyhood & Manhood. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 619 The King answered that he had not come to Ireland to let the grass grow under his feet. 1868Morning 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’. 18775 Yrs.' Penal Serv. iii. 242 ‘Cut her own grass!..what is that?’..‘Why, purvide her own chump—earn her own living.’ 1884Edna Lyall We Two v, [He] was not a man who ever let the grass grow under his feet. 1891H. 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.
1867in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 347.
e. Marijuana, used as a drug. slang (orig. U.S.).
1943Time 19 July 54 Marijuana may be called..grass. 1945L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 25 Grass reefers, marijuana cigarettes. 1967Boston 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.’. 1968A. Diment Gt. Spy Race vi. 88 Pure Grass cigarettes, at two dollars a pack and none of your watering down with tobacco. 1969Win 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.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1011 Vor men þat beþ enuenimed, þoru graces of þe londe Idronke hii beþ iclansed sone þoru godes sonde. 1320–30Horn Ch. in Ritson Metr. Rom. III. 316 Go..And geder parvink and ive, Gresses that ben of main. c1340Cursor 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. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Symon & Judas 24 And of þe cure, thru þe wrocht is But ony medycyne ore gris [L. medicamentis aut herbis]. c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 145 Euery gras that groweth vp on roote she shal eek knowe. c1400Rowland & Otuel 993 To hym commes þat lady clere & greses broghte þat fre, Þat godd sett in his awenn herbere. c1440Boctus (Laud MS. 559 lf. 4 b), Many a grasse and many a tree. 1587L. Mascall Gov. Cattle, Horses (1627) Index, The fiue grasses that draw a wound. Oculus Christi, Madder, Buglosse [etc.].
fig.1393Langl. 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’.
1548Turner 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. 1578Lyte Dodoens iv. li. 509 Of the grasse of Parnasus..This herbe groweth in moyst places. 1597Gerarde Herbal ii. ccxciv. 692 Parnassus Grasse, or white Liuerwoort. 1854S. 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.
1677Plot Oxfordsh. 153 Grasses, the usual name for any Herbage sown for Cattle, especially if perennial. 1886C. 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.
1611Cotgr. s.v. Aiguillette, Aiguillettes d'armes, the hearbe, or grasse, called Ladies laces, white Cameleon grasse, painted, or furrowed grasse. 1672Grew 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. 1759B. Stillingfl. Observ. Grasses Misc. Tracts (1762) 365 By grasses are meant all those plants, which have a round, jointed and hollow stem. 1776Withering 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. 1828Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 379 Tabanus pratensis..Inhabits Europe, in meadows, the larvæ destroying the roots of grasses. 1869Ruskin Q. of Air §79 The grasses are essentially a clothing for healthy and pure ground. 1887Chamb. 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. c1350Will. Palerne 27 Þat litel child listely lorked out of his caue.. to gadere of þe grases þat grene were & fayre. c1384Chaucer 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. c1440Jacob's Well (E.E.T.S.) 214 Alle levis of treen, euery gresse on erthe, euery droppe of watyr in þe se & land. c1460Towneley Myst. i. 238 Gresys and othere small floures. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §20 Dernolde groweth vp streyght lyke an hye grasse. a1533Frith Wks. (1573) 75 If euery grasse of the ground were a man as holy as euer was Paule or Peter. 1577Kendall 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. 1662J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 11 In the Country all about this City, there is not so much as a grasse to be seen. 1848Dickens Dombey i, Strange grasses were sometimes perceived in her hair. 1850Tennyson 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.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Mark iv. 28 Forðon eorðo wæstmiað ærist gers [c 1000 Ags. Gosp. gærs], æfterðon ðone ðorn, soðða full hwæte in eher. 1340Ayenb. 28 Þet corn..is uerst ass ine gerse, efterward ine yere. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 432/1 Our faith is yet in the grasse. 1589Greene Orpharion Wks. (Grosart) XII. 34 Fancy long helde in the grasse, seldom prooues a timely Haruest. 1613[see grain n.1 1 b]. 1733J. 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.
1820T. Hogg Pract. Treat. Culture of Carnation 48 The propagation by piping..ought to commence as soon as the shoots or grass is [sic] ready. 1836N. 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. 1885Sutton Cult. Veget. & Fl. 81 The Onion makes a weak grass that cannot well push through earth that is caked over it. 1925W. 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.
1471Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. No. 670 III. 7 That Phelypp Loveday put the othyr horse to gresse ther. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §85 It wyl leaste appere, whan he [the horse] is at grasse. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 75 In Cheapside shall my Palfrey go to grasse. 1607Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658) 313 Let him rest, or run at grasse for a week or more. 1611Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn. Pestle iv. v, The sturdy steed now goes to grass, and up they hang his saddle. 1650R. Gell Serm. 8 Aug. 21 Nebuchadnezzar was put to grasse. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 257 His Elephant..being then at Grasse, it was so long ere they could bring him. 1674tr. Martiniere's Voy. N. Countries 77 Our Guids unharnessed our Elks and turn'd them to Grass. 1675Lond. Gaz. No. 988/4 Lost at Grass April 9..a bay Gelding. 1708J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 34 Turn them out in Summer time to Grass. 1753J. Bartlet Gentl. Farriery i. 4 Horses, whose feet have been impair'd by quitters..or any other accidents, are also best repaired at grass. 1855Tennyson 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.
1589Hay any Work 6 If his worship and the rest of the noble clergie Lords weare turned out to grasses. 1630J. Taylor Wks. (Water P.) ii. 110/1 Wiues might vnable husbands turne to grasse. 1646Unhappy Game Sc. & Eng. 12 When the king hath got all, hell turne your brethren to grasse. 1673Dryden Marr. à la Mode iii. i, When I have been at grass in the summer, and am new come up [to town] again. 1700Congreve Way of World iii. xviii, I'll turn my wife to grass. 1786Mackenzie Lounger No. 78 ⁋6 [Our three boys] were sent to an academy in Yorkshire, to grass, as my husband phrased it. 1794Gentl. Mag. Dec. 1085 Soho, Jack!..very nigh being sent to grass, hey? 1801in Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1802) V. 361 Then no longer let mortals repine, If to grass sent from Oxon or Granta. 1838D. Jerrold Men of Charac. II. xvii. 264, I think I can send you to grass somewhere in Essex. 1887A. 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.
c1650Carle 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.
858Charter of æthelberht in O.E. Texts 438, IIII oxnum gers. 1493Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 164 Pro j hors gresse in parva prata apud Topclyf, 2s. 1790Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial. (1821) 14 Yee mun kna we tewk sum gerse for her. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 59 They have not only a house, but generally a cow's grass to afford milk to their families. 1880in 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.
1609Skene Reg. Maj. 86 Moueable escheit is, as be pasturing of cattell or beastes in the lands, or girse of Lords sundrie tymes. 1767A. 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. 1793Washington Lett. Writ. 1891 XII. 400 Preparing the second lot of the mile swamp for the purpose of laying it to grass. 1893Westm. 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.
1861G. 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.’ 1867Trollope 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.
1485Sc. 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. 1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iv. Handie-crafts 415 Whom seven-years-old at the next grass he ghest. 1649Davenant Love & Honour v. Dram. Wks. 1873 III. 184 She writes a hundred and ten, sir, next grass. 1685Lond. Gaz. No. 2061. 2/2 A Black brown Gelding..six years old last Grass. 1705Ibid. 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. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 312 Good wedders, eating their fifth grass, sold in the year 1793 at eighteen shillings. 1826Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. 49 She is five years old this grass. 1859G. 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.
a1300Cursor 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. 1375Barbour Bruce ii. 361 The gress woux off the blud all rede. 1390Gower Conf. II. 45 Forth she wente prively..All softe walkend on the gras. c1400Gamelyn 69 A-none as he was dede & under gras graue. 1773–83Hoole Orl. Fur. xxiii. 39 On the verdant grass, Beneath the covering trees, her limbs she throws. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xvi, They were two men who were seated in easy attitudes upon the grass. [1846Punch 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!’] 1850Punch 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. 1897W. S. Maugham Liza of Lambeth v. 59 ‘Na then,’ she said, ‘keep off the grass!’ [i.e. don't take liberties with me]. 1904Daily 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.’ 1925P. 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. 1953K. 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.
1776Pryce Min. Cornub. 322 Grass or at Grass, signifies on the surface of the earth. ‘Is Tom Treviscas under⁓ground?’ ‘No; he's at Grass.’ 1801Hitchins in Phil. Trans. XCI. 160 One hundred and fifty-five fathoms below the surface, or, as the miners call it, from grass. 1843Penny Cycl. XXV. 32 The quantity [of mineral] brought to the surface, or, as it is technically called, to grass. 1855Cornwall 288 Let us now watch the men ascending from the mine after work. This is what they call ‘coming to grass’. 1890Goldfields 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.
a1625Beaum. & Fl. Little Fr. Lawyer iv. v. (1647) 69 Away, good Sampson; You go to grass else instantly. 1816Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 181 Lancaster..was..much exhausted, and soon found his way on the grass. 1848Durivage 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. 1872Mark Twain Innoc. at Home ii. (1882) 271 When you get in with your left I hunt grass every time. 1876Hindley Cheap Jack 237 Elias was sent to grass to rise no more off it. 1894Nation (N.Y.) 18 Jan. 39/3 Several of the McKinleyites were sent to grass in the course of the debate. 1894Sir 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.
1947Amer. Speech XXII. 154 The radar-man..speaks of ‘losing the pip in the grass’. Ibid., Grass,..electronic haze at the bottom of the screen. 1957Rawnsley & Wright Night Fighter iv. 58 ‘What's all that stuff?’.., ‘Grass,..it's like the background noise of a wireless set.’ 1961Partridge 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. 1969Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 16 Feb. 1/3 ‘Grass’—useless noise from outer space.
10. Short for sparrow-grass, corrupt form of asparagus. Now vulgar.
1747H. Glasse Cookery xiv. 234 Boil some Grass tender, cut it small and lay it over the Eggs. 1764Foote Mayor of G. ii. Wks. 1799 I. 181 A hundred of grass from the Corporation of Garrat. a1845Hood Public Dinner 61 You then make a cut on Some Lamb big as mutton; And ask for some grass too. 1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xx, Will you take any other vegetables? Grass? Peas? Summer Cabbage? 1898Garden 1 May 318/1 In warm localities established beds will be affording a welcome supply of serviceable ‘grass’.
11. Printing. Casual employment; jobbing work.
1888Daily News 16 July 7/1 Good jobbing hands wanted on grass. 1893Ibid 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.)
1932A. Gardner Tinker's Kitchen 283 Grass, an informer. 1936J. 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. 1955P. Wildeblood Against Law 105 ‘What are grasses?’ I asked. ‘Informers. Short for ‘grasshoppers’, which is rhyming slang for ‘shoppers’, meaning people who go to the cop-shop and squeal on their friends.’ 1961Guardian 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.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. viii, Through every *grass-blade. 1934T. S. Eliot Rock ii. 84 Glow-worm glowlight on a grassblade. 1949E. Pound Pisan Cantos lxxxiii. 124 When the mind swings by a grass-blade an ant's forefoot shall save you.
1804J. Grahame Sabbath (1808) 45 Larks, descending to their *grass-bowered homes.
1847Emerson Poems (1857) 126 Pondering shadows, colors, clouds, *Grass-buds and caterpillar-shrouds.
1889Westgarth Austral. Progr. 253 Pretty vistas of *grass-carpeted open forests.
1895Montgomery Ward Catal. 392/3 *Grass Catcher..has new device for attaching to mower. 1971CGA Ann. Price List 39/2 Motor Mowers..(4-stroke) complete with grass catcher.
1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe 25 All the foure footed rablement of herbagers and *grasse champers.
1870Morris Earthly Par. I. ii. 456 Midst sunny *grass-clad meads.
1954J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. 73 He lifted the astonished Sam, shears, *grass-clippings and all, right through the window. 1966G. 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.
1875W. S. Hayward Love Agst. World 10 A beautiful *grass-country.
1880C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 154 A *grass-covered..region.
1861W. F. Collier Hist. Eng. Lit. 400 The *grass-cushioned crags of Sandy-Knowe.
1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, lv, Hee [Soliman] only swept the Grasse, They the *Grasse-Eaters.
1894T. Tilton Chameleon's Dish 5 Odin's coast With all its twenty-thousand bays And *grass-embroidered water-ways.
1894Times 10 Dec. 10/4 The grass land being occupied by *grass farmers.
1638Penkethman Artach. I iij b, A *grasse fed Ox 16s. 1880Vermont 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. 1892A. C. Gunter Miss Dividends (1893) 213 What's champagne muscle to grass-fed muscle, you dainty cut of New York. 1960Times 1 Oct. 7/6 Grass-fed cattle.
1865Kingsley Herew. I. Prel. 16 The rich *grass-fen.
1806J. Grahame Birds Scot. 9 Joined by her mate [she] to the *grass-field flies.
1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ix. (ed. 2) 225 This plough is used for breaking up *grass-ground. 1788Cowper Lett. 21 Feb., Abounding with beautiful grass-grounds, which encompass our village.
1735Thomson Liberty iv. 718 Desolating Famine, who delights In *grass-grown Cities, and in desart Fields. 1865Kingsley Herew. I. i. 27 The great labyrinth of grass-grown banks.
1882Vines Sachs' Bot. 845 The nodes of *grass-haulms.
1936Discovery Jan. 24/2 The unique ‘*grass-heath’ of fescue and bent grasses. 1964V. J. Chapman Coastal Veget. vi. 148 Many of them can be regarded as ‘grass-heath’ species.
1894Times 10 Jan. 6/4 A *grass-holding which he could use for the benefit of himself and his family.
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. l, It wad be better laid out on yon bonny *grass-holms, than lying useless here in this auld pigg.
1830–7McGillivray Withering's Brit. Plants (ed. 4) xxiii. 377 Atriplex littoralis. *Grass-leaved Sea Orache. 1883F. M. Bailey Synop. Queensld. Flora 693 Grass-leaved fern.
1776Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 7 Leaves thread-shaped, *grass-like.
1894Country Gentlemen's Catal. 240 A ‘Stamford’ *Grass Mower. 1913W. J. Locke Stella Maris xii. 165 The grass-mower driven over the grass.
1825Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 14 In harvest and *grass-mowing time.
1850Mrs. Browning Poems II. 2 Our steeds, with slow *grass-muffled hoofs Tread deep the shadows through.
1806Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 557 The surface is agreeably diversified with hill and dale, heath, moss, meadow, corn, and *grass parks.
1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1884) II. xxxiii. 19 In a *grass-patch.
1828Miss Mitford Village Ser. iii. 156 Mrs. Lucas..was walking pensively up and down the *grass-path of the pretty flower-court.
1802Edin. Rev. I. 221 *Grass-picking is only known in the windward islands.
1921Amer. Jrnl. Bot. VIII. 473 Liefmann..found 2,500,000 grains of *grass pollen in one square meter. 1957Granta 9 Mar. 19/2 The girl sneezed with the grass-pollen.
1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. i. 11 This is the ‘*grass-prairie’, the boundless pasture of the bison.
1905Westm. 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.
1846W. E. Forster 28 Sept. in Reid Life (1888) I. vi. 183 The *grass roads here [in Ireland] are far better than our Yorkshire roads.
1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 104 The wretched stone and turf-walled and *grass-roofed hovels they inhabit.
1765Mus. Rust. IV. 383 *Grass-seeds gathered clean from the fields. 1880Vermont Agric. Rep. VI. 32, I cannot recommend the use of oats in connection with grass seed. 1965R. 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.
1770Waring 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.
1861G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. 49 Ere he reached the *grass-track he meant to follow, the fog was denser than ever.
1891Kipling Light that Failed i. 10 Maisie was picking *grass-tufts. 1909Westm. Gaz. 11 Dec. 16/1 Only recovering his feet after much floundering in one of the sandy hollows which occur between the grass-tufts. 1933R. Tuve Seasons & Months iv. 165 Shepherds tending sheep on green grass-tufts.
[1844J. Backhouse Narr. S. Afr. 115 The Hottentots..could obtain from one to two rixdollars a day in the *Gras Veld, grass field.] 1958Cape Argus 1 Nov. (Mag. Section) 11/1 We have exchanged..grassveld for karoo. 1971Nature 6 Aug. 374/3 This animal originally occurred extensively in..the central and southern Cape grassveld.
1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 44 We usually make a *Grass-walk in the Middle.
1885Century 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.
c1300Battle Abbey Custumals (1887) 60 Et vocatur ista arrura *grasacra. Ibid. 66 Præter Garsacram operandam.
1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 437/2 The calico, or *grass bass, a showy, mottled fellow, sometimes a foot long.
c1000Ags. Ps. cii[i]. 15 Þonne he gast ofᵹifeð, syþþan hine *gærs⁓bedd sceal wunian. c1205Lay. 23985 Uppen þan gras⁓bedde his gost he bi-læfde.
1521Ld. Dacres in Archæol. XVII. 203 Ther is, whiche shal alwey be redie, unto *grisse Beif com, vj fed oxen. 1573Tusser Husb. xii. (1878) 28 When Mackrell ceaseth from the seas, John Baptist brings grassebeefe and pease. 1799J. 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]. 1847in Gosse Birds Jamaica 252 The Grass-birds remind me much of the European Sparrow. 1865Gould Handbk. Birds Austral. I. 399 Sphenœacus galactotes, Tawny Grass-bird. Ibid. 400 Sphenœacus gramineus, Little Grass-bird. 1893Newton 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.
a1845Hood Sonn., On Mrs. Nicely, Spotless in linen, *grass-bleached in her fame.
1842Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Aunt Fanny, ‘*Grass-bleaching’ will bring it To rights ‘in a jiffy’.
1894Country Gentlemen's Catal. 289 The *Grass Box can be placed either behind or in front of the cutters.
1660Hexham Dutch Dict., Begrasde boter, *grasse butter.
1776Pryce Min. Cornub. 174 The *Grass-Captain, who directs the separation of the Ore again above ground. 1855Cornwall 137 ‘Grass captains’..being engaged chiefly on the surface works, or ‘at grass’.
1885D. J. MacGowan in Bull. U.S. Fish Comm. V. 240 Some [Chinese minnows] fatten on grass, and are called ‘*grass carp’. 1964Listener 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. 1971Nature 15 Jan. 154/1 The Asiatic grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, a gross browser on aquatic vegetation.
1892W. H. Hudson Nat. La Plata 14 The *grass-cat not unlike Felis catus..but a larger, more powerful animal.
1845Zoologist III. 1058 Whinchat or *Grasschat, Saxicola rubetra.
1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 33 They..putte two or three *grasse-cockes inone. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 385 These lesser staddles, though last spread, are first turned, then those which were in grass-cocks.
1812Singer Agric. Surv. Dumfries 380 There is a *grass-cold, as the farmers call it, that seldom does much harm, or lasts long.
1832Sir J. Campbell Mem. I. xi. 293 Passengers of the class which is known by the name of *grass-combers. 1887Besant The World Went II. xxix. 309 Luke was a grass comber and a land swab.
1548Turner Names of Herbes 62 Phalaris..because it is partly lyke grasse and partly lyke corne, it may be called *grasse corne. 1659Torriano, Falúride [sic], the weed Grasse-corn.
1883Lawn Tennis for 1883 98 One of the most important accessories to a *grass court..is a good lawn mower. 1930W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale iv. 48 She's got quite a good grass court and she does one very well.
1879Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 46 If you keep horses, you will require a syce for each horse, and a *grasscut.
1789I. Munro Narr. Milit. Oper. Coromandel Coast iii. 28 An Horsekeeper and *Grasscutter at two pagodas. 1824Bp. Heber Jrnl. (1828) II. 45, I should..give a gratuity of two rupees among the wood and grass-cutters. 1853C. M. Smith Working-Man's Way in World ii. 20 My father was a grass-cutter for twenty years on the Morning ―. 1918Independent 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’. 1930Brophy & 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. 1944Word Study Apr. 4/2 Grass Cutter. This is what pilots call the A-20A Attack Plane because it flies so low. 1946G. S. Cansdale Animals W. Afr. 62 Next in size is the Cutting Grass, Grass Cutter or Cane Rat. 1961Times 12 May 18/7 We had also acquired a dried grass-cutter, a sort of bush-rat.
1885Swainson Prov. Names Birds 177 *Grass drake.
1888Amer. Naturalist XXII. 260 The *Grass-Eating Thrips. 1904W. H. Hudson Green Mansions ix. 117, I have found you..and your grass-eating dogs as well! 1946Nature 28 Dec. 928/2 The grass-eating, short-tailed, or meadow vole.
1859Darwin Orig. Spec. iii. (1872) 58 *Grass-feeding quadrupeds.
1784–5Pennant Arct. Zool. (1792) II. 65 *Grass Finch..Inhabits New York..Called the Grey Grass-bird. 1865Gould Handbk. Birds Austral. I. 421 Poëphila mirabilis, Beautiful Grass-Finch. Ibid. 422 Poëphila acuticauda, Long-tailed Grass-Finch. 1869J. Burroughs in Galaxy Mag. Aug. 172 The field or vesper-sparrow, called also grass-finch.
1882W. R. Ludlow Zululand xxi. 182 As we approached the Umslatoos, we came in sight of an immense *grass fire. 1891R. 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. 1927W. Plomer I speak of Africa i. 13 Thirty miles away a grass-fire gave the air a bluish tinge. 1967Evening News 2 Nov. 7/1 (heading) Clamp-down on grass-fires [on railway embankments].
1885C. 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.
1803Windham 9 Dec. in Amyot Sp. Parl. (1812) II. 131 They were men..who..had not yet got their *grass-flesh off.
1901H. Gadow Amphibia & Reptiles 253 The habits of the *Grass-frog are essentially terrestrial. 1931H. 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.
1691J. 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?
1910N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. 15 Aug. 223 No means are yet known for the thorough control of the New Zealand *grass-grub. 1946Nature 21 Dec. 920/1 The Entomology Division has focussed its attention on the grass-grub, the major insect pest affecting pastures [in N.Z.]. 1969N.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.
1751Lady 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. 1758Washington 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.
1875Southward Dict. Typogr. 44 It is a frequent occurrence for a casual *grass-hand to take more wages than a regular book-hand. 1881McClatchie 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].
1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 2 Apr. 1/1 The Victoria *Grass Hockey Club is holding a practice this afternoon. 1964Maclean's Mag. 16 Nov. 81/2, I..do solemnly swear never to waste company time arguing..or raving about..lawn bowling and grass hockey.
1809Kendall Trav. II. xxxviii. 39 [Ponds] that being filled only in the wet seasons, and affording grass in the dry, are denominated *grass-holes.
1658Rowland 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.
1812Niles' Weekly Reg. II. 131/1 The purveyor of public supplies advertises for..1000 *grass hooks. 1858J. A. Warder Hedges & Evergreens 97 Using for the purpose [of pruning] a strong knife about two feet long, or a common grass-hook. 1969Sears, Roebuck Catal. 1079 Craftsman Grass Hook. Traditional scythe type, heat-treated, 12½-in. blade adjusts to two cutting angles.
c1647Boyle 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. 1691Lond. Gaz. No. 2716/4 Stolen..a Grass Horse.
1557Richmond. Wills (Surtees 1853) 102 To every *grisse house within the parishe which hath no corne growing, one busshell of rye. 1892J. Kennedy Mem. M. S. Kennedy v. 57 There was a grass-house belonging to a banya half a mile in another direction.
1884Leisure 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.
1807Duncan 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.
1747H. Glasse Cookery xxi. 160 *Grass Lamb comes in in April or May. 1793Misc. Ess. in Ann. Reg. 379/1 The vicinity to Smithfield market makes early grass-Lambs an object of considerable importance.
1895Daily News 2 Aug. 6/6 *Grass-lawn..formed the material of many of the prettiest dresses.
1892C. E. Douglas in J. Pascoe Mr. Explorer Douglas (1957) 176 It is very common all along the ranges close to the *grass line. 1909Man. Seamanship II. x. 180 A grass line attached to a breaker should be towed astern in case..the boat missed the towing ship. 1941J. Masefield Nine Days Wonder 25 Various devices were tried for heaving off strings of boats together on messengers of grass-line. 1959Tararua XIII. 45 Scrubline for the upper limit of the scrub seems to be confined to New Zealand as does the corresponding grassline.
1866Mrs. Whitney L. Goldthwaite viii. (1867) 175 A strip of sheer, delicate *grass-linen, which needle and thread..were turning into a cobweb border.
1479Acta Dom. Conc. (1839) 41/1 He Resavit þe said scheipe in gresing fra þe said lady & tuke & is pait of his *gerss male þarfor. 1752J. Stewart in Scots Mag. June (1753) 286/1, 10 l. Scots was in payment of the grass-mail of cattle.
a1640Massinger Very Woman iii. v, How she holds her nose up, like a jennet In the wind of a *grass-mare!
1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 322 The *grass-meal of a sheep..is valued at two or three shillings.
1597MS. Grassmen's Bk. St. Giles's, Durham, Delyvered of the *grasse money.
1837Penny Cycl. VIII. 136/1 Crambus, a genus of moths..called in England the Veneers, and sometimes *grass-moths.
1824Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl., *Grass-nail. 1851H. 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.
1797Monthly Mag. III. 34 Girls of this description, are..eagerly sought for, under the appellation of *grass-nurses.
1844Hoblyn Dict. Med., *Grass-oil of Namur, a volatile oil procured, according to Royle, from the Andropogon Calamus aromaticus. 1887C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 454 The oil produced in the Namar district of the Nerbudda Valley is sometimes called grass-oil of Namar.
1893Sarah Grand Heavenly Twins (1894) iii. ii. 252 Poor *grass-orphans.
a1483Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. 17 [Solomon had] dayly x stalled oxen very great and xx great *grasse oxen.
1840J. 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.] 1884–5Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) IV. 355 The zebra grass-parakeet, Melopsittacus undulatus.
1913G. M. Mathews List Birds Austral. 138 Neophema pulchella. Red-shouldered *Grass-Parrot. 1936A. 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.’ 1966Eastman & Hunt Parrots of Australia 153 Characteristics of Neophema Group... Known as Grass Parrots because they are strictly ground-feeders on grass and herbaceous seeds.
1790J. B. Moreton Mann. W. Ind. 57 One hundred oxen..will require a good convenient *grass-penn to feed them.
1513Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 92 The *gers pilis. 1746E. Erskine Serm. Wks. 1871 III. 320 The rocks and trees and grass piles.
1894Harper's Mag. Mar. 566 The sweet pogonia or *grass-pink of our sedgy swamps (Pogonia ophioglossoides).
1633Johnson 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.
1764Mus. Rust. I. 356 There are several ways of breeding potatoes in Ireland..First, On rich clay land without any manure, vulgarly called *grass potatoes.
1847Gosse Birds Jamaica 249 Yellow Face *Grass-Quit, Spermophila olivacea. [And other species.] 1893Newton 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.
1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 147 Veer a buoy or small boat astern by the *grass rope [1897 (ed. 7) 141 by a grass hawser].
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 37 A brush sithe and *grasse sithe. 1787Washington 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). 1908Sears, Roebuck Catal. 522 (caption) Double rib extra grade all steel grass scythe.
1700S. 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.
1922C. G. Turner Happy Wanderer 211 The official issue of clothing is a wide-brimmed ‘*grass-seeder’ straw hat. 1936C. 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].
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 62 When Oxen come first of all after Winter to grasse, they fall *grasse-sick.
1920Glasgow Herald 9 Sept. 9 The discovery of a bipolar organism in *grass-sickness. 1923Daily 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. 1955Gaiger & 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.
1852R. 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.
1346–7Durham Acct. Rolls (Surtees) 743 *Gressiluer..Et in herbag. empt. pro Joh'e de Haliden Hospit. superuenient. et equis Hostillarii xi s.
[1898J. 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.] 1937C. Gessler Hawaii xxix. 334 The *grass skirt introduced in Kalakaua's time survives in Hawaii mainly for sale to tourists. 1938R. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 68 She loved to dance the hulas in that bright-coloured grass skirt. 1949M. Mead Male & Female ii. 27 They [sc. anthropologists] are accused of having..put on a grass skirt or a loin⁓cloth. 1970Observer (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.
1863Atkinson Stanton Grange 219, I seed a *grass-snake come out of the corn near me. 1884–5Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 370 With the common people it [Tropidonotus natrix] is known as the ringed or grass-snake, and is often tamed.
1883Encycl. Amer. I. 530/1 The *grass sparrows (Poœcetes gramineus).
1830M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 251 *Grass Spirit..procurable in great quantities from the various kinds of grass.
1883W. S. Kent in Fisheries Bahamas 47 Another variety of the coarse-fibred series is the *Grass-sponge (Spongia equina, var. cerebriformis).
1840Browning 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]. 1960Farmer & 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. 1969Times 13 Oct. 14/6 No accurate estimate has been made of the toll that grass staggers, or hypomagnesaemia, takes of beef cattle.
a1490Botoner 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. c1693in 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. 1867Gwilt Archit. Gloss. Add., Earth Table, or Ground Table, and Grass Table.
1696J. F. Merchant's Ware-ho. 27 This sort is made of the same stuff your *Grass Taffeties are.
1824Loudon Encycl. Gard. (ed. 2) §1338 Verge-shears..are chiefly used for trimming the sides of box-edgings and *grass-verges. 1930Morning Post 12 June 12/5 He was within four feet of the grass verge and was unable to avoid the approaching motor cycle. 1937Sunday Times 10 Jan., Nearly all the new roads have broad central ‘reserves’ and broad grass verges on each side. 1963Radio 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.
1865Gould Handbk. Birds Austral. I. 349 Great *Grass-warbler. Exile Grass-Warbler. Lineated Grass-Warbler.
1927Sunday 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.
1836W. A. Bromfield Flora Vectensis 537 Zostera marina..*Grassweed.
1706Phillips (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.
1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 23 A *Grass-work, encompassed with Cases and Yews, with Water-works in the Middle. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., Small pieces of grass-work, as knots, shell-work..cut-work..etc. must always be laid with turf. 1855Cornwall 164 Here is the ‘grass-work’ of a great Copper Mine.
Ibid. 289 The *grass-workers..have stopped work.
1658Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 929, I have seen him [the hornet] to eat of *grasse worms.
1776Withering Brit. Plants 554 *Grasswrack, Zostera. 1838Audubon Ornith. Biogr. IV. 10 Its subsistence..is chiefly derived from the grass-wrack or Eel-grass, Zostera marina. 1961R. 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.
1898Morris Austral Eng. 519/1 *Grass W[ren]... Called by Gould the Textile Wren. 1934A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Australia xvii. 103 The grass wren he called the ‘jump⁓along’. 1965Austral. Encycl. IV. 363 All grass-wrens, though able to fly fairly well, move mainly on foot, and with remarkable speed.
1841Tattersall 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.
1970Daily 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. 1988Guinness Bk. Records 1989 287/1 Grass skis were first manufactured by Josef Kaiser (West Germany) in 1963.
so grass skiing.
1970Times 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. 1989Scotland 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.
1793Beddoes 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.
c1460Towneley Myst. xii. 189 Primus Pastor. How pastures oure fee? Garcio. Thay ar gryssed to the kne. a1670Hacket 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.
c1500Three Kings Sons (E.E.T.S.) 112 They wolle likken me to a Bocher that gressith beestes. 1523Fitzherb. Surv. xix. (1539) 39 Howe many cattel it wyll grasse. 1584Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 15 Yt is..agreed..that everie iiij pounde rent within this parrishe..shal gras winter and somer one shepe. 1594Privy Council 10 Mar. in Arb. Garner I. 301 For the..grassing of beefs and muttons. 1617Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) I. 162 He to grass 14 hed of cattles till Michas. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 130 Breeding and grasseing Cattle. 1766W. Gordon Gen. Counting-ho. 467 Grassing the highland cows. 1871Blackie 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.
1573Tusser Husb. xxxv. (1878) 84 With otes ye may sowe it, the sooner to grasse, more soone to be pasture to bring it to passe. 1861Sir 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.
1832L. Hunt Translations 242 I'd just as lief be buried, tomb'd and grass'd in. 1849Jrnl. 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. 1888T. Hardy Wessex Tales I. 203 The new house had so far progressed that the gardeners were beginning to grass down the front. 1895J. Brown Pilgrim Fathers viii. 211 The graves being levelled and grassed over. a1900Mod. 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.
1765Mus. 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. 1847Jrnl. 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.
1814Sporting Mag. XLIV. 70 A terrific blow on the mouth, which floored or grassed him. 1848Dickens Dombey xliv, He was severely fibbed by the Larkey one, and heavily grassed. 1864C. Clarke Box for Season II. 76 He..fell head foremost into the pit of Professor Sharp's stomach..grassing him at once. 1883Besant All in Garden Fair I. Introd. 12 His foot caught in a tuft of grass, and he was grassed. 1937in Partridge Dict. Slang. 1963Times 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. 1968Eagleson & McKie Terminology Austral. Nat. Football ii. 13 Grass, knock a player to the ground by a hip or a shoulder bump.
fig.1826J. 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.
1856Kingsley in Life (1877) I. 490 We'll..Whoop like boys at pounders Fairly played and grassed. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. iii. 52 The intense delight of grassing your first big fish after a nine months' fast. 1894Field 9 June 832/1 One of the anglers..grassed six brace.
d. To bring down (birds, game) by a shot.
1871Daily News 8 Apr. 5 The excitement of grassing blue rocks. 1889H. O'Reilly 50 Years on Trail 21, I lost no time in grassing another [antelope].
e. Cricket. To drop (a catch).
1960E. 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.
1859Cornwallis 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).
1881Lanc. 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.)
1894Westm. 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.
1890Goldfields 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.
1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid xxvii. 269 Anyhow it was a dirty trick grassing his pals. 1938G. Greene Brighton Rock iii. ii. 118, I wouldn't grass, Spicer said, unless I had to. 1958F. Norman Bang to Rights 86 What is more he didn't grass any one else. 1963Daily 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. 1965J. Porter Dover Two vii. 77 It won't come out! Not unless you start grassing. |