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单词 grass
释义

grassn.1

Brit. /ɡrɑːs/, /ɡras/, U.S. /ɡræs/
Forms:

α. early Old English graes, early Old English gręs (in compounds), Old English cræs (probably transmission error), Old English gras- (inflected form), Old English–early Middle English græs, Old English (rare)–Middle English gres, Middle English graas, Middle English graȝ, Middle English grece, Middle English grees, Middle English grise, Middle English grys, Middle English gryse, Middle English–1500s grese, Middle English–1500s griss, Middle English–1500s grisse, Middle English–1500s grysse, Middle English–1600s gras, Middle English–1600s grasse, Middle English–1600s gresse, Middle English (1800s English regional) grace, Middle English (1800s– English regional (northern and midlands)) gress, Middle English–1500s (1800s English regional) grase, Middle English– grass, late Middle English grosse (perhaps transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 graisse, pre-1700 grase, pre-1700 greas, pre-1700 grease, pre-1700 greis, pre-1700 greissis (plural), pre-1700 gres, pre-1700 grese, pre-1700 gresse, pre-1700 gris, pre-1700 griss, pre-1700 grisse, pre-1700 grys, pre-1700 1700s gras, pre-1700 1700s grasse, pre-1700 1700s– grass, pre-1700 1700s– gress; also Irish English (northern) 1900s– gress; N.E.D (1900) also records a form late Middle English graz.

β. early Old English geres- (Mercian, in compounds), Old English–early Middle English gærs, Old English (chiefly non-West Saxon)–Middle English gers, late Old English gears, late Old English (in compounds)–Middle English gars, early Middle English gares- (in compounds), Middle English gerse, Middle English gersse, Middle English gerze, Middle English girs, Middle English girse, Middle English gyrs, Middle English–1500s gyrse, late Middle English cersse (perhaps transmission error), 1500s girss; English regional (northern) 1600s 1800s girse, 1700s–1800s gerse, 1700s–1800s gurse, 1800s g’erse, 1800s g'ess, 1800s gaerse, 1800s gars, 1800s garse, 1800s gers, 1800s gerss, 1800s gess, 1800s gorse, 1800s gurs, 1800s gurze, 1800s gus; Scottish pre-1700 gairs, pre-1700 geirs, pre-1700 gyrs, pre-1700 gyrse, pre-1700 gyrss, pre-1700 1700s–1800s garse, pre-1700 1700s–1800s gers, pre-1700 1700s–1900s gerse, pre-1700 1700s– girs (now Shetland), pre-1700 1700s– girse, pre-1700 1700s– girss, pre-1700 1800s gars, pre-1700 1800s– gerss, 1800s garss, 1800s giss.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian gres , (also) gers (West Frisian gers ), Old Saxon gras (Middle Low German gras ), Old Dutch gers- (in place names with reference to grassland; Middle Dutch gras , gars , gers , Dutch gras , regional also gars , gers ), Old High German, Middle High German gras (German Gras ), Old Icelandic gras , Norwegian (Nynorsk) gras , Old Swedish, Swedish regional (Dalarna) gras , Gothic gras < an extended form of an ablaut variant of the same Germanic base as grow v. A formation from the same extended form of the base (hence indicating its existence in Indo-European) may perhaps be shown by classical Latin grāmen grass (earlier *grasmen ; compare gramineous adj.). Compare also (with suffix forming collective nouns) Middle Low German gres, Old Swedish, Swedish gräs, Old Danish, Danish græs, all in the sense ‘grass’.Compare also (with different ablaut grade) Dutch gruos- grassy ground (in place names; Middle Dutch groese young plant, fresh growth, Dutch groeze grassy ground, grass), Middle Low German grōse , Middle High German gruose , both in the sense ‘young plant, sap of a plant’. Further derivatives of the same Germanic verbal base include Old English grǣd grass (see greeds n.) and green adj. Variant forms. The β. forms show metathesis of r , occasionally also seen in forms of the Germanic cognates. Specific senses. In use denoting asparagus (see sense 9) short for sparrowgrass n. In use with reference to a police officer or informer (see sense 12) probably short for grasshopper n. (compare sense 11 at that entry, although that is first recorded later with reference to an informer). Alternatively, it has been suggested that this sense may have arisen as a shortening of grass in the park (20th cent.; also grass park ), rhyming slang for nark n. (compare nark n. 2), but this is more likely to have developed from the ‘informer’ meaning of main sense.
1.
a. Herbage of which the blades or leaves and stalks are grazed by cattle, horses, sheep, etc., usually restricted to low-growing, non-cereal plants of the family Poaceae (formerly Gramineae) which cover a large extent of ground, or other plants resembling these.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > herb or herbaceous plant > [noun] > herbage or grass
grasseOE
turfc890
herbc1384
herbage1390
herberiea1400
verdure1447
summer grass1531
eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 55/1 Fenum, graes.
OE Andreas (1932) 38 Hie hig ond gærs for meteleaste meðe gedrehte.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Corpus Cambr. 188) xvii. 536 On Israhela dunum beoð heora læswa, & ðær hi gerestað on growendum gærsum.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1948 Þat heo freten þet corn & þat græs [c1300 Otho gras].
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3049 Trees it for-brac, and gres and corn.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l.289 (MED) The moiste dropes of the reyn..doth to springe grass and flour.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope v. i. f. lxxvij Of a mule whiche ete grasse in a medowe nyghe to a grete forest.
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) i. l. 1345 Sum stedis growis sa haboundly Off gers þat [etc.].
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iii. iv. 25 Trippis eik of gait, but ony keipar, In the rank gersis pasturing on raw.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 29 I past to the greene hoilsum feildis..to resaue the sueit fragrant smel, of tendir gyrssis.
1597 T. Middleton Wisdome of Solomon Paraphr. xvi. sig. V3v Is grasse mans meat, no it is cattells food.
c1613 ( in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 187 She hath no gresse to hir cattell.
a1637 B. Jonson Sad Shepherd i. i. 5 in Wks. (1640) III Her treading would not bend a blade of grasse ! View more context for this quotation
a1754 J. MacLaurin Serm. & Ess. (1755) 110 The least pile of grass is an effect of infinite power.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth II. 315 Quadrupedes, that feed upon grass.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Sibylline Leaves 75 The grass was fine, the Sun was bright.
1837 R. W. Emerson Oration before Phi Beta Kappa Soc. 11 The human body can be nourished on any food, though it were boiled grass and the broth of shoes.
1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders xviii. 165 There's a handfu' o' girse to brew mair milk.
1941 J. Stuart Men of Mountains 164 The wind is blowin among the green grass and the windflowers and the bloodroots.
1997 Times 8 Mar. (Weekend section) 13 Grass is all that horses and livestock have to eat in the summer.
2004 BusinessWeek 9 Feb. 96/1 Boutique cattle are raised principally on grass and rotate among pastures.
b. figurative. The human body, or a human being, considered as short-lived or transitory. Chiefly in all flesh is grass (and variants), after Isaiah 40:6 (see quot. 1611).With reference to the fact that, in a hot climate, grass withers and dies quickly.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xii. 279 Swa swa se witega cwæð: ælc flæsc is gærs & þæs flæsces wuldor is swilce wyrta blostm.
a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 47 (MED) Truste not ner leene not upon a windy rede, for euery flesshe is grasse.
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. lv. 6 All flesh is grasse, and all the goodlinesse thereof is as the flowre of the field. The grasse withereth, the flowre fadeth.
1688 J. Patrick Pract. Anc. Church relating to Eucharist 67/1 He that could change Water into Wine, is able to change Hay (so he calls our Bodies that are Grass) into Gold, and of Flesh make an Angel.
1794 F. Asbury Jrnl. 22 Mar. (1821) II. 188 All flesh is grass, and I am grass.
1900 J. R. Paxton in Serm. Bible 26 Since I am grass, and disease is in the air, and I die to-morrow, I will have no dealings with malice, or hate, or envies.
2011 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 12 Mar. (Review section) 1 As individuals we are bound to degenerate... All flesh is grass.
c. An individual herbage plant or (formerly) †cereal plant; a blade or stalk of grass (sense 1a). Now usually in plural, and somewhat rare.In early use sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > herb or herbaceous plant > [noun]
grassOE
herbc1290
herbling1562
herbleta1616
forb1924
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > cereal plants or corn > individual plant
grassOE
cornc1384
OE tr. Vitas Patrum in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 204 Þa geseah ic micelne æmettena heap up astigendne.., and sume hio twiccedan þa grasu mid hiora muðe.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 27 Þat litel child listely lorked out of his caue..to gadere of þe grases þat grene were & fayre.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 31 (MED) Vch gresse mot grow of graynez dede.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 214 Alle levis of treen, euery gresse on erthe, euery droppe of watyr in þe se & land.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xiiv Dernolde groweth vp streyght lyke an hye grasse.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 11 in Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors In the Country all about this City, there is not so much as a grasse to be seen.
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) i. 5 Strange grasses were sometimes perceived in her hair.
1905 Amer. Ornithol. Jan. 12 One day I saw a female with a grass in her bill and stopped to see where she would place it.
2009 Weekly Times (Austral.) (Nexis) 4 Feb. 84 Ask visitors or workers to check they're not carrying any seeds, grasses or other contaminants on their clothing or in their hair.
2. A kind of grass; any of the various species of plants spoken of collectively as grass.
†a. A small herbaceous plant; a herb used for medicinal or magical purposes. Also figurative. Obsolete.adder's grass, five-leaved grass, penny-grass, etc.: see the first element.
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the world > plants > valued plants and weeds > [noun] > valued plant > medicinal plant or herb
grasseOE
simple?a1425
wound-herb1597
bunk1660
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxiii. 173 Sua sua manegra cynna wyrta & grasu beoð gerad [altered to gegaderad þe] sumu neat batigað fore, sumu cuelað.
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark iv. 31 Sicut granum sinapis..cum seminatum fuerit ascendit et fit maius omnibus holeribus : suæ corn sinapis..miððy gesauen wæs astag & bið mara allum wyrtum uel græsum.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15468 Swa fele kinne wasstmess. Off gresess. & off tres.
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 431 No golsipe is hem minde Til he noten of a gres, Ðe name is mandragores.
c1390 Cato's Distichs (Vernon) l. 275 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 575 Macer þe strengþe of grases telles, Boþe of crop and Rote.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 8453 Þe kinde of þingis lered he. baþ of tree and grissis fele [Vesp. Bath o tres, and gress fele].
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xv. l. 23 Grace is a gras þer-fore to don hem eft growe.
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Laud) (1998) I. l. 98 Many a grasse and many a tree.
c1480 (a1400) SS. Simon & Jude 24 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 208 Of þe cure, thru þe wrocht is, but ony medycyne ore gris [L. medicamentis aut herbis].
1587 L. Mascall First Bk. Cattell ii. 200 The fiue grasses that draw a wound. Oculus Christi, Madder, Buglosse, Red coale, Erual.
1643 in J. Maidment Misc. Abbotsford Club (1837) 182 Ȝe cam to him, and offered him ane grass, as ȝe callit it, but to his appearance, nothing but ane litle quantitie of quhyt moss or fogge.
b. Any of various monocyledonous plants comprising the large cosmopolitan family Poaceae (formerly Gramineae) which includes cereals, reeds, and bamboos, members of which are typically have erect, jointed stems with long, narrow, blade-like leaves and insignificant flowers. Also more widely: any of various similar plants of the order Poales, which also includes sedges and rushes. Frequently with distinguishing word.bent-grass, meadow grass, rye grass, etc.: see the first element.Recorded earliest in the Old English compound bere-græs (cf. bere n.1), ultimately reflecting Latin herba hordeacea, lit. ‘plant of the nature of or resembling barley’, in Isidore's discussion of classical Latin farrāgō farrago n. ( Origines 17.3.14).
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > of particular type
grassOE
OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 87 Farrago, grene berecræs.
a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 68 Vnder molde hi liggeþ colde & faleweþ so doþ medewe gres.
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. D.iiij Gramen is called..in english great grasse.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 13 The roote of the right Grasse brused and layde to byndeth woundes together an closeth them vppe.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Aiguillette Aiguillettes d'armes, the hearbe, or grasse, called Ladies laces, white Cameleon grasse, painted, or furrowed grasse.
1682 N. Grew Idea Philos. Hist. Plants 6 in Anat. Plants Amongst the several Sorts of Grass, there are some which match all those of Corn; which is but a greater kind of Grass.
1762 B. Stillingfleet Observ. Grasses in Misc. Tracts Nat. Hist. (ed. 2) 365 By grasses are meant all those plants, which have a round, jointed and hollow stem.
1776 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Veg. Great Brit. 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.
1794 W. Pitt Gen. View Agric. Stafford 27 Hard grass, iron grass, carnation grass (carex's): these, upon draining and top-dressing their native bogs, generally give way to the more valuable grasses.
1854 J. Clare in A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 91 I gathered the palm grass close to the brook, And heard the sweet birds in thorn-bushes sing.
1869 J. Ruskin Queen of Air §79 The grasses are essentially a clothing for healthy and pure ground.
1887 Chambers's Jrnl. 10 Sept. 583/2 Oil or otto of geranium..is produced in India..by distillation of andropogon grasses with water.
1940 Salt Lake Tribune 11 June 7/5 This is the time of year when cheatgrass is particularly hazardous, being ripe and highly inflammable.
1990 Jrnl. Mammalogy 71 604 Shallow lakebeds..are filling gradually with sedges (Cyperaceae) and grasses (Poaceae).
2001 Exotic & Greenhouse Gardening June 74/2 Many grasses relish the moist, sticky conditions that a swamp provides. Among the most spectacular is Cyperus papyrus, the Egyptian paper reed.
2014 B. Glover Understanding Flowers & Flowering (ed. 2) i. 13/1 Dramatically modified wind-pollinated flowers such as those of the grasses (Poales).
c. Chiefly with distinguishing word. Any of numerous other plants belonging to other orders, esp. those thought to resemble the members of Poaceae (or more widely Poales).In early use cf. sense 2a.China grass, mondo grass, scurvy-grass, etc.: see the first element.grass of Parnassus (also Parnassus grass): see Parnassus n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun]
grassa1300
a1300 Glosses to Herbarium of Pseudo-Apuleius (Bodl. 130) f. 42v Swines gres [in another hand blodwert .i. suines gres].
c1390 (?a1325) Long Charter of Christ (Vernon) A. l. 120 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 646 No more wol I aske of þe, But a foure-leued gras ȝeld þou me..A ‘trewe loue’ men clepen hit.
?a1450 Agnus Castus (Stockh.) (1950) 144 (MED) Centenodium is an herbe þat men clepe centenodye or sparwystungge or swynys grees.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry sig. C.iiii Quisshe hey cometh of a grasse called crofote and groweth flat after the erth.
1553 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe (new ed.) sig. P.viv Knot grasse beinge caryed aboute the person taketh awai the swelling of the Tetes incontinent.
1625 T. Jackson Treat. Originall of Vnbeliefe 177 A maide..liked well of the devill making loue to her in the habit of a gallant young man, but could not..so long as shee had Vervine and S. Iohns grasse about her.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden ccxcix. 563 It is called in English, Herb two pence, Two-penny grasse, but usually Money-wort.
1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming xxxvi. 286 The Cow Grass, is called Cow Clover, or White Clover, delights in moist Ground and swampy Places.
1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess 9 A' her washing cud na stench the bleed, In haste then Nory for the stench-girss yeed.
1830 Boston Courier 26 July He is supposed to have been entangled in the eel grass and was drowned before assistance could be rendered.
1884 Therapeutic Gaz. 15 Dec. 547/2 Chrysopsis graminifolia, Nutt., the Grass-leaved Silver Aster. Reported as ‘Blue grass’ and ‘fever-grass’. Used as a poultice to sprains.
1908 Pacific Rural Press (San Francisco) 4 Jan. 5/1 It rained well into June and the rib grass kept right on growing.
1970 Ecol. Monogr. 40 191/1 The tops of the large rocks and some areas on the bottom are covered by beds of surf grass, Phyllospadix torreyi.
2012 Guardian (Nexis) 20 Sept. The United Nations Environment Programme has urged greater protection for saltmarshes, sea grasses, mangroves and seaweeds partly because they soak up greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
d. Agriculture. Any of various plants of the family Poaceae grown for pasture, or for conversion into hay or silage.
ΚΠ
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 153 Grasses, the usual name for any Herbage sown for Cattle, especially if perennial.
1794 T. Davis Gen. View Agric. Wilts. 101 The new tenants are allowed to sow grasses in the offgoing tenant's last crop of Lent corn.
1886 C. Scott Pract. 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.
1905 W. J. Spillman Farm Grasses U.S. 157 It is therefore safer..to grow a grass like timothy, which does not have to be cut so promptly.
2014 L. Staker Macropod Husbandry I. xvii. 290 When sowing grasses for enclosures outside of Australia, a good variety of grass seeds is required... This mixture could be planted: Kentucky Blue grass, Fescue, Buffalo and Bermuda.
3.
†a. The blade stage of growth in wheat or other cereal crops. Chiefly in in (also on) (the) grass. Also figurative. Cf. in the blade at blade n. 2b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > herb or herbaceous plant > [noun] > herbage or grass > stage of growth
grassOE
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark iv. 28 Ultro enim terra fructificat primum herbam, deinde spinam, deinde plenum frumentum in spica : lustum forðon eorðo wæstmiað ærist gers [OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. gærs] æfterðon ðone ðorn soðða full hwæte in eher.
OE Ælfric Homily: De Doctrina Apostolica (Hatton 115) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 623 Ælc treow blewð ær þan þe hit wæstmas bere, and ælc corn bið ærest gærs.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 28 Þet corn..is uerst ase ine gerse, efterward ine yere.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. cxciv. 1089 He [sc. cokil] is liche to whete whanne it is in grasse.
c1450 (c1400) Bk. Vices & Virtues (Huntington) (1942) 32 (MED) Summe bien þe corn in gras, or wyn whan it bloweþ.
a1500 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1932) 161 195 (MED) In youþe in folye hys welþes ware, He doyþ but selle hys corne on gresse.
1569 in N. W. Alcock People at Home v. 77 6 Dayes grese of rye.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 432/1 Our faith is yet in the grasse.
a1592 R. Greene Orpharion (1599) 18 Fancy long held in the grasse, seldome prooues a timely Haruest.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage viii. ii. 734 Where Wheate and Mays will not grow, but so vnequally, that at one instant, some is in the grasse, other in the graine.
1656 J. Smith Myst. Rhetorique Unvail'd 252 Desire..is a strange countrey..where corn is still in grasse..and birds alwayes in the shell.., all is there only in expectation.
1733 J. Tull Horse-hoing Husbandry xiii. 71 Wheat falls sometimes whilst 'tis in Grass, and before it comes into Ear.
1840 Farmers' Cabinet 15 May 299/2 Thus grain may suffer from the wet mildew even whilst in the grass.
b. Horticulture. The (young) shoots of a plant, esp. a carnation or onion. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pinks or carnations > parts of
grass1774
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > onion, leek, or garlic > onion > skin, seed, shoots, or bulbs
onion seed1356
scallion1393
cartilage1563
onion skin1616
fold1675
tunic1832
onion set1859
grass1885
1774 J. Gordon Planters, Florists, & Gardeners Pocket Dict. 68/1 In planting the layers, take care not to do it too deep, but let all the grass stand clear above ground.
1820 T. Hogg Conc. & Pract. Treat. Carnation 48 The propagation by piping..ought to commence as soon as the shoots or grass is [sic] ready.
1836 N. Paterson Manse Garden iii. 212 The young shoots [of carnations] near the ground which do not run to flower are denominated grass.
1885 Culture of Veg. & Flowers (Sutton & Sons) 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.
1956 Gardeners' Chron. & Gardening Illus. 31 Mar. 342/3 The secret of growing chives successfully is to cut the ‘grass’ frequently, otherwise the plants will soon go to flower.
1991 Guardian 16 Nov. (Weekend Suppl.) 22/4 If you wish to increase them [sc. autumn flowering crocuses] you can lift and split immediately after flowering. Alternatively, you can wait till spring and do the job then, while their ‘grass’ is still green.
4. With a possessive or other modifier, or with of: an area of pasture or grazing land sufficient to feed the animal or number of animals specified. Now historical.In quot. lOE with reference to a tenant's right to pasturage earned by performing ploughing service (see grassearth n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > [noun] > pasture > amount for specific animals
grasseOE
soum1472
eOE (Kentish) Royal Charter: Æðelberht to Wulflaf (Sawyer 328) in N. P. Brooks & S. E. Kelly Charters of Christ Church Canterbury, Pt. 2 (2013) 734 iiii oxnum gers mid cyninges oxnum.
lOE Laws: Rectitudines (Corpus Cambr.) iv. §1b. 447 Gyf he maran gærses [L. (Quadripartitus) herbagio] beðyrfe, ðonne earnige ðæs, swa him man ðafige.
1493 in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1888) III. 164 Pro j hors gresse in parva prata apud Topclyf, 2s.
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng iii. f. 3 A horse grasse or a mare grasse maye be dere ynoughe twelfe pens or twentie pens by ye yere, and it maye be worthe fyue shillynges or a noble, accordyng to the goodnesse of the pastures.
1619 T. Adams Happines of Church (ed. 2) ii. 260 When the Father hath gotten thousands by the sacrilegious Impropriation, the Sonne perhaps may giue him a Cowes grasse, or a matter of fortie shillings per annum.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View 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.
2017 B. Mac Suibhne End of Outrage ii. iii. 100 The area of a cow's grass varied according to the quality of land.
5.
a. Grass-covered ground; a grassy area; esp. grassy ground kept mown and smooth in a garden, park, etc.; a lawn; a green.in quot. 1877: a piece of such ground.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > division or part of garden > [noun] > lawn or grass-plot
grassOE
arbourc1380
harbour1505
green plot1566
grass plot1599
grass work1664
platband1725
lawn1733
garden lawn1771
short-grass1826
pelouse1853
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xii. 279 Þæt folc þe ðær gereordode sæt uppon þam gærse.
a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 10 Sixtene hundred of horsmen asemblede o þe gras.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) ii. 361 Ye gres woux off ye blud all rede.
1539 Bible (Taverner) Matt. xiv. He commaunded the people to syt downe on the grasse.
1655 W. M. Queens Closet Opened 53 Take a fair linnen cloth, and in the morning lay it over the grass, & draw it over till it be wet with dew.
1783 J. Hoole tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso III. xxiii. 39 On the verdant grass, Beneath the covering trees, her limbs she throws.
1877 ‘Rita’ Vivienne I. i. 2 The grasses are crimsoned with tulips; every nook is sweet with odours of sheltered violets.
1922 ‘R. Crompton’ More William (1924) v. 85 He rather liked mowing the grass.
2014 Church Times 8 Aug. 22/1 Dogs lie on the grass in front of the seated area in Dean's Park.
b. under grass (also grasses): in the grave, buried; (in later use) esp. in to sleep under grass: to be dead and buried. Formerly also †into grass: into the grave (obsolete). Cf. grass-bed n. at Compounds 5. rare (archaic and poetic) after Middle English.
ΚΠ
a1350 Sayings St. Bernard (Harl. 2253) in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 512 Vnder grases [?a1300 Digby graues], þer hue buen, By-holdeþ whet þer lye.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 245 Into gresse þou me aglyȝte.
c1410 (c1350) Gamelyn (Harl. 7334) l. 69 Anon as he was deed and vnder gras igraue.
1914 Poet. Lore Winter 609 In the tomb On God's chosen day, We went forever To sleep under grass.
1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King v. vi. 125 Long now they sleep under grass in Gondor by the Great River.
c. Mining. The surface of the ground above a mine.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > ground > [noun] > above a mine
grass1672
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [noun] > material above
hanger1631
grass1672
overburden1821
top wall1881
1672 G. Sinclair Hydrostaticks 263 If the distance B A, be supposed to be 120 fathoms alongst the Grass, or surface, then will the deepness of the Sink be six fathom, and so forth.
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 322 Grass, or at Grass, signifies on the surface of the earth. ‘Is Tom Treviscas under-ground?’ ‘No; he's at Grass.’
1890 Goldfields of Victoria 14 About 70 tons [of quartz] are now at grass awaiting crushing.
1992 Mod. Painters Spring 54/2 The miner extracts inside the earth; his trolleyings in the galleries, a shuttling within the earth and his laborious incisions are eventually brought ‘to grass’ (a miner's term for the surface).
d. slang The ground. Chiefly in fixed phrases relating to falling or being knocked to the ground: see Phrases 9.
ΚΠ
1816 Sporting Mag. 48 181 Lancaster..was..much exhausted, and soon found his way on the grass.
2007 Call & Post (Cincinnati, Ohio) 19 Dec. c1 Fans don't want to see a boring fight. They want to see somebody's ass hit the grass.
e. Tennis. Grass as a playing surface for tennis courts; grass courts.
ΚΠ
1875 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 72 When tennis was played on grass, the ball was probably larger than the present tennis-ball.
1921 W. T. Tilden Art of Lawn Tennis (ed. 2) x. 109 There is little question but that the grass game is the best.
1987 Tennis Aug. 10/2 Her game, particularly her erratic but penetrating serve, was born for grass.
2018 Evening Standard (Nexis) 10 July 54 For one so small, she brings so much power and energy to the court. She's very aggressive and does well on grass.
6. The yearly growth of grass; (hence) the season when the grass grows, spring and early summer. Now somewhat rare.Chiefly used when calculating or referring to the age of a person or animal.In quot. 1799 in to eat its fifth grass: (of a grazing animal) to be in its fifth year.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > growing season or weather
grass1485
florescence1793
growing weather1794
growing season1845
the world > time > period > year > season > [noun] > spring
LenteneOE
LentlOE
warea1300
verec1325
vera1382
vere-time1382
springing timea1387
springinga1398
springa1400
prime tempsa1425
the spring of the year1481
grass1485
springtime1495
prime time1503
sap-time?1523
spring tide1530
(the) spring of the leaf1538
prime1541
prime tide1549
voar1629
vernal season1644
vernal1654
outcome1672
Lent term1691
blossom-time1713
open water1759
rabi1783
budding-timea1807
ware-time1820
growing season1845
1485 in Rec. Parl. Scotl. to 1707 (2007) 1485/5/10 It is thocht expedient..that oure souveran lord cause his justice airis to be haldin universaly in al partis of his realme, twys in the yere, anys on the girse and anys on the corne.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 371 Whom seu'n-yeares old at the next grasse he guest.
1705 London Gaz. 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 Gen. View Agric. Perth 312 Good wedders, eating their fifth grass, sold in the year 1793 at eighteen shillings.
1859 G. Meredith Ordeal Richard Feverel II. viii. 142 When did ye meet?—last grass wasn't it?
1989 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 4 Sept. 53 It is sad to see T.J., who will be around 70 come next grass, battling adversity.
7.
a. Land, esp. farmland, on which grass is sown or is allowed to grow; the condition of such land, esp. in to lay (also put, set, etc.) (down) to grass.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > fertile land or place > land with vegetation > [noun] > grassland
wong971
greenc1225
clowrec1350
bentc1360
swarth?a1400
flaughtc1400
grassa1500
sward?1507
greenswarda1522
sward-earth1541
swarf1599
over-swarth1649
lawn1674
sod1729
swath1776
spine1786
swad1877
turfage1899
padang1909
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > [noun] > pasture
leasowc950
leasea1000
pasturea1300
common pasturea1325
grassland1324
laund1340
lea1357
gang1413
feedingc1430
grassa1500
raika1500
beast-gate1507
pasturagec1515
grazing1517
average1537
pasture groundc1537
walk1549
grassing1557
pastural1575
browsing1577
feed1580
pastureland1591
meadow pasture1614
green side1616
range1626
pastorage1628
tore1707
graziery1731
pasturing1759
permanent pasture1771
sweet-veld1785
walk land1797
run1804
sweet-grass1812
potrero1822
pasturage land1855
turn-out1895
lawn1899
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xxxvi. §2. 130 The kale..not ere of garthis bot of gressis, that grouys bi thaim ane in the feld.
1609 J. Skene tr. Regiam Majestatem 86 Moueable escheit is, as be pasturing of cattell or beastes in the lands, or girse of Lords sundrie tymes.
1637 in Rec. Colony Rhode Island (1856) I. 17 The severall portions of grass and meadow.
1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. 99 Half the lands of a farm, but more particularly of a small or middling one, ought to be grass.
1793 G. Washington Let. in Writings (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.
1967 E. Kerridge Agric. Revol. iii. 202 Three-quarters of the farm was grass and the main object was animal produce.
2013 D. Goulson Sting in Tale xv. 193 Poupard had put the field down to grass the year before.
†b. Hunting. colloquial. The field or ground over which a hunt, esp. a fox hunt, takes place. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1842 ‘Nimrod’ in Horse & Hound 280 If..you can get the lead, and keep it for forty minutes, best pace over the grass, [etc.].
1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harborough 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.’
1908 Bystander 14 Oct. (Hunting Suppl.) 3/1 You may be a top-notcher, able on two-hundred guinea hunters to hold your own in an exhilarating forty minutes over the grass.
8. slang. A woman's pubic hair. Chiefly as part of an extended metaphor.
ΚΠ
1707 T. D'urfey in H. Playford Wit & Mirth (new ed.) III. 56 But what if my Nag should chance to slip in..then catch hold of the Grass that grows on the brim.
?1836 Cockchafer 16 I love to feel the grass that grows Around my well so free.
1968 N. Heard Howard Street xi. 158 ‘Your black snake'll never crawl through this grass!’ She pulled up her skirt and patted her thighs to show him what he'd never get.
2012 @Tetley6969 10 May in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) Anyone want to cut my grass tonight? I'll pay you $69. And by cut my grass, I mean shave my pubes.
9. Asparagus. Cf. sparrowgrass n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > stalk vegetables > [noun] > asparagus
asparagusc1000
speragec1440
sparagus1543
sparage1565
sperage1647
sparrowgrass1652
esparagrass1711
grass1723
1723 R. Smith Court Cookery i. 77 To dress Asparagus. Boil your Asparagus..: Let your Sauce be Butter, Vinegar, Salt and Nutmeg..and pour it on your Grass.
1764 S. Foote Mayor of Garret ii. 36 A hundred of grass from the corporation of Garret.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xx. 196 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’.
1912 Fruit Trade Jrnl. & Produce Rec. 21 Dec. 31/1 Grass—Asparagus. A contraction of ‘sparrow-grass’, a vulgar corruption of asparagus.
1940 Springfield (Mass.) Republican 6 June 8 (advt.) Native grass[:] Have your fill at this low price.
2000 National Trust Mag. Spring 74/3 All the prizes are asparagus, or ‘grass’ as it is known in these parts.
10. slang. Green vegetables; salad leaves. Sometimes spec.: lettuce. Now rare.Earlier currency is perhaps implied by Grass Week n. at Compounds 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > [noun] > green vegetables
green meatc1450
wintergreensa1691
greens1710
green ware1736
green stuff1778
grass1867
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > leaf vegetables > [noun] > lettuce > types of lettuce
cabbage lettuce?1537
minion1693
passion-lettuce1704
cos lettuce1706
lettuce cabbage1731
rabbit food1772
romaine1865
grass1867
iceberg lettuce1893
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 347 Grass, a term applied to vegetables in general.
1909 Long Island Agronomist 24 Feb. 6 One of us will probably never learn to have any wild hankering for what he has always called ‘grass’ and ‘hay’.
1960 Raleigh Reg. (Beckley, W. Va.) 22 June 4/7 A ham and Swiss cheese sandwich without lettuce [might be called], One combo, hold the grass.
2012 A. Hamed in M. Loutfi tr. A. A. Razek Islam & Found. Polit. Power p. vii The table comprised brimming platefuls of stewed vegetables and salads, what my uncles would sarcastically call ‘the daily plate of grass’.
†11. Printing. slang. Casual employment; jobbing work (cf. jobbing n.2 3b). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > temporary or casual work
notec1350
jobbery1832
catchwork1856
grass1888
in and out work1903
gig work2004
gig2015
society > communication > printing > printing specific type of work > [noun] > casual work
smooting1683
grassing1875
grass1888
1888 Daily News 16 July 7/1 Good jobbing hands wanted on grass.
1890 Kentish Mercury 10 Jan. 8/5 Compositors.—‘Grass’ for a few hours after 6 o'clock on Thursday evenings.
1902 Brit. Printer Jan. 49/2 Old Billy, from ‘The News’..was ‘on grass’ within a jobbing room.
12. British slang (originally Criminals' slang).
a. A police informer. Later also more widely: any person who informs on another. Cf. grasshopper n. 11b, grasser n.2, supergrass n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > informing on or against > [noun] > informer > police informer
setter1630
nose1789
mouchard1802
rat1818
stool-pigeon1830
knark1851
police informer1851
nark1859
telegraph1864
copper1885
sarbut1897
Noah's Ark1898
stool1906
snout1910
finger1914
policeman1923
stoolie1924
shelf1926
grass1929
grasshopper1937
grasser1950
stukach1969
supergrass1975
1929 ‘C. G. Gordon’ Crooks of Underworld 69 A ‘grass’ is the term for ‘copper's nark’ in the underworld to-day.
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.
1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard 75 Sometimes grasses were a detective's greatest asset.
2018 @winnfield12 20 Aug. in twitter.com (O.E.D. archive) He's a grass, tell him nowt Gaz.
b. A police officer. Cf. grasshopper n. 11a. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > [noun] > policeman
truncheon officer1708
runner1735
horny1753
nibbing-cull1775
nabbing-cull1780
police officer1784
police constable1787
policeman1788
scout1789
nabman1792
nabber1795
pig1811
Bow-street officer1812
nab1813
peeler1816
split1819
grunter1823
robin redbreast1824
bulky1828
raw (or unboiled) lobster1829
Johnny Darm1830
polis1833
crusher1835
constable1839
police1839
agent1841
johndarm1843
blue boy1844
bobby1844
bluebottle1845
copper1846
blue1848
polisman1850
blue coat1851
Johnny1851
PC1851
spot1851
Jack1854
truncheonist1854
fly1857
greycoat1857
cop1859
Cossack1859
slop1859
scuffer1860
nailerc1863
worm1864
Robert1870
reeler1879
minion of the law1882
ginger pop1887
rozzer1888
nark1890
bull1893
grasshopper1893
truncheon-bearer1896
John1898
finger1899
flatty1899
mug1903
John Dunn1904
John Hop1905
gendarme1906
Johnny Hop1908
pavement pounder1908
buttons1911
flat-foot1913
pounder1919
Hop1923
bogy1925
shamus1925
heat1928
fuzz1929
law1929
narker1932
roach1932
jonnop1938
grass1939
roller1940
Babylon1943
walloper1945
cozzer1950
Old Bill1958
cowboy1959
monaych1961
cozzpot1962
policeperson1965
woolly1965
Fed1966
wolly1970
plod1971
roz1971
Smokey Bear1974
bear1975
beast1978
woodentop1981
Five-O1983
dibble1990
Bow-street runner-
1939 H. Hodge Cab, Sir? xv. 222 A policeman is the usual cockney ‘Grass’ (copper, grass-hopper).
13. slang (originally U.S.). Cannabis, esp. a preparation of the dried leaves, flowering tops, and stem of the plant in a form for smoking.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s) > marijuana or cannabis
bhang1598
hashish1598
cannabis1765
ganja1800
Indian hemp1803
sabzi1804
cannabin1843
deiamba1851
charas1860
liamba1861
hemp1870
cannabis resin1871
marijuana1874
kef1878
locoweed1898
weed1917
Mary Ann1925
mootah1926
muggle1926
Mary Jane1928
Mary Warner1933
Mary and Johnny1935
Indian hay1936
mu1936
mezz1937
moocah1937
grass1938
jive1938
pot1938
mary1940
reefer1944
rope1944
smoke1946
hash1948
pod1952
gear1954
green1957
smoking weed1957
boo1959
Acapulco1965
doobie1967
Mary J1967
cheeba1971
Maui Wowie1971
4201974
Maui1977
pakalolo1977
spliff1977
draw1979
kush1979
resin1980
bud1982
swag1986
puff1989
chronic1992
schwag1993
hydro1995
1938 R. P. Walton Marihuana xi. 195 Vernacular. United States. Muggles, Mooter, Reefers..Weed, Grass, Tea.
1943 Time 19 July 54 Marijuana may be called..grass.
1945 L. Shelly Hepcats Jive Talk Dict. 25 Grass reefers, marijuana cigarettes.
1968 N. Cruz & J. Buckingham Run Baby Run (1993) iii. 47 You can tell if they're high on grass if their eyes shine.
1995 J. Miller Voxpop xvi. 209 Back home you can buy grass, gange, shit like that off 12-year-olds... Kids sit down and skin up in school.
2004 S. Mehta Maximum City 374 He started taking drugs in the way a boy from a good Bombay family might... ‘Smoking a little grass, meeting the women.’
14. In an oscilloscope: a series of oscillations caused by background noise, electronic interference, etc., displayed as an irregular series of peaks thought to resemble grass.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > cathode-ray tube > [noun] > line or pattern on screen > appearances on screen
grass1943
jitter1943
1943 Fund. Radar (Naval Air Techn. Training Center, Corpus Christi, Texas) xi. 121 Many reflections that would ordinarily be lost in the ‘grass’ would become usable with a substantial increase in power.
1957 C. F. Rawnsley & R. Wright Night Fighter iv. 58 ‘What's all that stuff?’.., ‘Grass,..it's like the background noise of a wireless set.’
2003 G. Brooker Mod. Classical Optics 206 (caption) The noise is ‘white’, from zero frequency to several megahertz, and be seen to be so as ‘grass’ on an oscilloscope.

Phrases

P1. Proverbs and proverbial phrases.
a. while the grass grows, the horse starves and variants: the consequence of waiting on one resource may be to lose a more important one; also shortened to while the grass grows.Now chiefly in financial or economic contexts. [Compare e.g. post-classical Latin ante nouam moriens procumbit cornipes herbam, lit. ‘before the new grass the horse falls down dying’ (a1100) and also dum herba crescit equus moritur, (1243), dum gramen crescit, equs interit, both lit. ‘while the grass grows the horse dies’ (c1450 in a British source), and also Anglo-Norman Endementiers que l'erbe es vals Renaist et croist, moert ly chivals, lit. ‘while the grass is down below, springs up, and grows, the horse dies’ (second half of the 14th cent., in J. Gower Mirour de l'omme, l. 5593).]
ΚΠ
c1450 Summa Dictaminis Epistolarum (Rylands Lat. 394) f. 7v While þe gresse growes þe good hors sterues, Gramen dum crescit equus in moriendo quiescit.
1586 R. Lane Acct. in R. Hakluyt Principal Navigations (1589) 744 Wee might very well starue, notwithstanding the growing corne, like the staruing horse in the stable, with the growing grasse as the prouerbe is.
1688 Let. from Clergy-man in Country to Clergy-man in City 37 Take the Opportunity which now presents, than to stay and starve while your Grass grows.
1719 J. Dunton State-weathercocks p. xxi But whilst the Grass Grows the Steed Starves, for as yet I have Received no other Reward for this Distinguished Service to the House of Hannover.
1765 S. Foote Commissary iii. 48 She refuses to advance me a guinea upon the credit of it, and while the grass grows—You know the proverb.
1847 Punch 12 June 245/2 As the steed starves while the grass grows, so are the shareholders starving while the weeds are springing up on this suburban railway.
1882 Anglo-Amer. Times 7 Apr. 7/2 It is no use telling a man it can produce sugar..for while the grass grows the horse starves.
1933 Times 20 Dec. 19/6 But while the grass grows, the horse starves; sections of our Mercantile Marine are threatened with ruin by the concentrated attack of foreign nations.
1997 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 20 Sept. a5/3 The old adage ‘while the grass grows the horse starves’ best describes your current economic policy.
2013 Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent) (Nexis) 1 Jan. 15 Dave Conway accused the authority of ‘letting the grass grow while the horse starves’ after reserves were increased.
b. to let the grass grow under one's feet (also heels) and variants: to delay in acting or in seizing an opportunity. Chiefly in negative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > act or do vigorously [verb (intransitive)] > be brisk or active
wakec897
stir?c1225
whippet1540
to let the grass grow under one's feet (also heels)a1556
jetty1570
hum1884
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > acting vigorously or energetically [phrase] > acting briskly
to let the grass grow under one's feet (also heels)a1556
(all) in a rush1876
on one's toes1921
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iii. iii. sig. E.ij There hath grown no grasse on my heele since I went hence.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 268 The hare..leapes away againe, and letteth no grasse grow vnder his feet.
1699 D. Jones Compl. Hist. Europe 1676–99 (ed. 2) 367 Finding things did not go on so fast as he desired, he exprest some dissatisfaction, saying; He did not come there to let Grass grow under his Feet.
1716 tr. A. R. Le Sage Gil Blas I. ii. ii. 142 He made what haste he could; and we went together to my Master, not letting the grass grow under us.
1828 W. Scott Jrnl. 29 Mar. (1941) 214 I have let no grass grow beneath my heels this bout.
1938 Jrnl. Andhra Hist. Res. Soc. 12 184 He let the grass grow under his feet..by idling away time at certain very critical moments.
2018 Bismarck (N. Dakota) Tribune (Nexis) 6 Mar. a10 Get out, try something new, don't let the grass grow under your feet.
c. where the Turk's horse once treads, the grass never grows and variants.
ΚΠ
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes sig. Fffffiiv Wheresoeuer the Grand signior his horse setteth his foot, the grasse will there no more grow.
1680 E. Hickeringill Curse ye Meroz 16 Grass they say never grows where the great Turk sets his Foot.
1869 W. C. Hazlitt Eng. Prov. & Phr. 467 Where the Turk's horse once treads, the grass never grows.
1918 Asia 18 395/1 ‘Where the hoof of the Turk's horse has pressed the grass never grows’, say the Macedonians who have suffered from his exactions.
2014 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 12 July I think it is an Arabian proverb which says, ‘Where the Ottoman hoof has struck, the grass never grows again’.
d. Originally U.S. the grass is always greener on the other side (of the fence) and variants: other people's lives, situations, etc., always seem (superficially) better than one's own; often shortened to the grass is always greener. [Compare classical Latin fertilior seges est aliēnīs semper in agrīs, lit. ‘the harvest is always more fruitful in another man’s fields’ (Ovid Ars Amatoria 1. 349).]
ΚΠ
1897 Salt Lake Tribune 5 Aug. 1/8 The [Klondyke gold] mines are wonderful, but probably not so wonderful as represented. Grass is always greener, you know, further away.
1928 Tulia (Texas) Herald 17 May 6/3 ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’, is still in vogue. Why does the young man have to go away from home to get far in the world?
1984 S. Terkel Good War (1985) ii. iv. 248 The grass is always greener on the other side. It's a tendency, I suppose.
2010 Psychologies (U.K. ed.) Apr. 108/2 It's really important not to waste time being envious of other people, believing that the grass is always greener.
P2.
a. to put (also turn, etc.) (out) to grass and variants.
(a) To put (an animal) out to graze on grassland; to put to pasture; (hence in extended use) to relieve (a horse or other working animal) of its duties, esp. when it is old.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > pasture
leasowc950
feed1382
pasturec1400
to put to grass1471
grassc1500
to turn out?1523
graze1564
impasture1614
put1620
depasture1713
run1767
to run out1851
1471 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 565 Þat Phelypp Loueday put the othyr horse to gresse ther.
1566 T. Blundeville Fower Offices Horsemanshippe lxi. f. 39 If it be in Sommer, you may turne him to grasse.
1655 J. Sanders Iron Rod 49 Her Father..caused my Horse to be put to grasse, and desired me to stay all night.
1776 J. Bentham Let. 14 Nov. in Corr. (1968) I. 361 The Mare..is sent to Pyenest to grass.
1877 Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 447/1 It looks very much as though your animal had an attack of laminitis, which was dissipated by having been turned out to grass.
1966 Rotarian June 34/1 If we hadn't found that Old Fox could do something to earn his keep after he'd been turned out to grass, his days would have been numbered.
2011 M. Napoléone et al. in R. Bouche et al. New Trends Innovation in Mediterranean Animal Production 312 The flock is put out to grass on natural grassland in early April.
(b) figurative. To relieve (a person) of his or her duties; to retire (a person), make (a person) redundant; (also) to cease using (a thing).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > removal from office or authority > remove from office or authority [verb (transitive)]
outOE
deposec1300
remuec1325
to put out1344
to set downc1369
deprivec1374
outputa1382
removea1382
to throw outa1382
to put downc1384
privea1387
to set adowna1387
to put out of ——?a1400
amovec1425
disappoint1434
unmakec1475
dismiss1477
dispoint1483
voidc1503
to set or put beside (or besides) the cushion1546
relieve1549
cass1550
displace1553
unauthorize1554
to wring out1560
seclude1572
eject1576
dispost1577
decass1579
overboard1585
cast1587
sequester1587
to put to grass1589
cashier1592
discompose1599
abdicate1610
unseat1611
dismount1612
disoffice1627
to take off1642
unchair1645
destitute1653
lift1659
resign1674
quietus1688
superannuate1692
derange1796
shelve1812
shelf1819
Stellenbosch1900
defenestrate1917
axe1922
retire1961
1589 ‘M. Marprelate’ Hay any Worke for Cooper 6 If his worship and the rest of the noble clergie Lords weare turned out to grasses.
1646 Unhappy Game Sc. & Eng. 12 When the king hath got all, hell turne your brethren to grasse.
1825 W. Scott Betrothed x, in Tales Crusaders I. 189 It's like old Raoul and I will be turned to grass with the lord's old chargers.
1990 Independent (Nexis) 23 Sept. 22 Apparently the filofax was put out to grass last year.
2018 Western Morning News (Nexis) 10 Mar. 2 Cornwall's army of crop-pickers were facing the prospect of being put out to grass this week, with the news that scientists are developing robots capable of harvesting vegetables.
†(c) figurative. Chiefly in to send to grass. To send (a person) away, esp. into the countryside. Also: to send (a student) down from university, to rusticate (a student). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1622 J. Taylor Common Whore sig. B3 Wiues might vnable husbands turne to grasse.
1786 H. Mackenzie Lounger No. 78. ⁋6 Our three boys..were sent to an academy in Yorkshire, to grass, as my husband phrased it.
1801 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1802) 5 361 Then no longer let mortals repine, If to grass sent from Oxon or Granta.
1892 London Jrnl. 24 Sept. 194/1 If ever the doctors send you to grass, turn you out to vegetate, not live, by all means come here.
b. at grass: (of an animal) that has been put out on grassland; at pasture; grazing. Also figurative.
ΚΠ
?1530 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry (rev. ed.) f. xxxiii It wyll leest appere whan he [sc. the horse] is at grasse.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 402 Let him rest, or run at grasse for a weeke or more.
1673 J. Dryden Marriage a-la-Mode iii. i. 35 When I have been at grass in the Summer, and am new come up [to town] again.
1753 J. Bartlet Gentleman's Farriery i. 4 Horses, whose feet have been impair'd by quitters..or any other accidents, are also best repaired at grass.
1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta 2nd Ser. 64 He had long been an author at grass, and had no mind..again to wear the collar.
2000 Farmers Weekly 18 Feb. 38/1 Maize is re-clamped once cows are settled at grass.
c. to go to grass.
(a) Of an animal: to go out to graze; to go to pasture, esp. in the springtime. Also figurative and in figurative contexts: to give up one's work or duties; to retire.
ΚΠ
?c1450 in G. Müller Aus Mittelengl. Medizintexten (1929) 128 (MED) A good receyt for þe ciatica..Take þe doonge of an ox þat goth to gres and douwys-donge, of iche oliche miche.
1613 F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle iv. sig. I2v The sturdy Steede, now [sc. in May] goes to grasse , and vp they hang his saddle.
1795 J. Holt Gen. View Agric. Lancaster (new ed.) xiii. 148 The proper cheesing time..begins when the cows go to grass.
1807 Balance, & Columbian Repository 17 Feb. 51/2 A person at Albany is said to have thus written to his friend—‘The dam Lewishites have turned out the old Mare and so now he will have to go to grass as the saying is.’
1927 E. Hemingway Let. 16 Feb. (2015) III. 210 You ought to go to grass and not..be working on a bloody play.
1995 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 7 Apr. (Sport section) 42 Down south they get to retiring age and go to grass on home soil.
2018 Irish Independent (Nexis) 10 July 9 If you check three hours after the cows go to grass and the water troughs are empty you are in trouble.
(b) U.S. slang. To be ruined; to be damned. Chiefly in the imperative, expressing angry or contemptuous dismissal: ‘get lost’, ‘go to hell’. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1836 Sangamo Jrnl. (Springfield, Illinois) 16 Jan. Tab you may go to grass, and get a husband where you can, for what I care.
1877 ‘M. Twain’ in Boston Daily Globe 18 Dec. 8/2 I wish I may go to grass if he didn't swoop down with another right bower!
1931 Boys' Life Nov. 47/2 ‘You—you go to grass!’ he found himself blurting out, refusing Bat's proffered hand.
1968 P. Taylor Stand in Mountains i. in Kenyon Rev. 30 185 Go to grass. I'd plumb forgot your sass, Zack.
P3. to cut the grass (from) under a person's feet: to thwart or foil a person, esp. in an unexpected or underhand manner; to undermine a person. Cf. to pull the rug from under at pull v. Phrases 14.Perhaps now chiefly in translated texts. [After French couper l'herbe sous le pied de quelq'un , and similar expressions (as e.g. in the passage translated in quot. 1572).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (intransitive)] > thwart
to cut the grass (from) under a person's feet1572
spoil sport1869
1572 G. Fenton tr. E. Pasquier Monophylo i. f. 51 The same Astolphe & Ioconde chose in the ende one Ladie to content them both, and yet a little quidam..did cutte the grasse from vnder their feete [Fr. leur faucha l'herbe sous les pieds].
1672 A. Marvell Rehearsal Transpros'd (ed. 2) 155 This is a prety way of cokesing indeed, while you are all this while cutting the grass under his feet, and animating the people against the exercise of his Ecclesiastical Supremacy.
1749 W. Whiston Memoirs I. 114 Upon my first proving them to be genuine, he pretended to me, that he would cut the grass from under my feet, as his expression was, and prove them to be spurious.
1811 W. Cobbett Parl. Hist. Eng. VIII. 1129 It would be cutting the grass under our own feet, and be of great detriment to Robinson.
1913 A. M. Ludovici tr. V. Van Gogh Lett. of Post-Impressionist 95 But the matter is pressing, otherwise other dealers will cut the grass from under your feet.
2013 M. Gershovich in B. Maddy-Weitzman & D. Zisenwine Contemp. Morocco ii. vii. 102 Communication Minister Benabdallah commented that the government intended to ‘cut the grass under the feet of Islamists’.
P4. †to give grass [after classical Latin dāre herbam] : to yield, surrender. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defeat > be defeated [verb (intransitive)] > surrender
to cry (or say) creanta1250
to yield oneself creanta1250
to do (also put) oneself in (also to) a person's mercya1325
yieldc1330
recray1340
summisec1450
render1523
amain1540
surrender1560
to throw down one's arms (also weapons, etc.)1593
articulate1595
to yield (also bow oneself) to (also upon) mercy1595
to give grass1597
capitulate1601
to cry cravena1634
to lower or strike one's flag1644
bail1840
hands-up1879
kamerad1914
1597 Bp. J. Hall Defiance to Enuy in Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. sig. A7 Needs me giue grasse vnto the Conquerers.
P5. between grass and hay: (with reference to the feeding of livestock) designating a time in which neither grass nor hay is abundant; (figurative, chiefly U.S.) between two stages of development or times of life; between two states or conditions.
ΚΠ
1742 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman July xiii. 78 April and September are reckoned the worst Months to make Butter in, because then the Season is between Grass and Hay.
1871 S. de Vere Americanisms (1872) 208 The peculiar phrase in which the youth, who is no longer a boy, and not yet a man, is picturesquely said to be between grass and hay.
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’.
1919 Michigan Farmer 26 Apr. 31 This spring the season between grass and hay is the most serious I have ever seen.
2014 R. Lautner Road to Reckoning xi. 89 You will have twenty years to learn this between grass and hay. It will do no good to you now.
P6. †to pluck the grass to know where the wind sits: to interpret a situation or infer a fact by studying signs or indications. Obsolete.With reference to the practice of holding up a blade of grass to determine the direction of the wind.
ΚΠ
a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) ii. 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.
P7. to keep off the grass: to ensure not to intrude on, or interfere with, a person, situation, etc.; chiefly in imperative.With reference to a notice or sign keep off the grass often displayed in public parks or gardens.
ΚΠ
1870 Advocate (Melbourne) 25 June 10/1 I would advise all ‘young gushing politicians’ to keep off the grass of the Murray boroughs.
1897 W. S. Maugham Liza of Lambeth v. 59 ‘Ave yer got whale-bones?’ said Tom, with affected simplicity, putting his arm round her waist to feel. ‘Na then,’ she said, ‘keep off the grass!’
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.
2011 @christinezafe 15 Nov. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) You know what H-I-M stands for? It stands for He Is Mine... Keep off the grass.
†P8. slang (originally U.S.). to cut one's own grass to earn one's own living. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (intransitive)] > earn one's living
liveeOE
get?1529
to earn (also get, make, etc.) a (also one's) living1632
to cut one's own grass1863
1863 J. Greenwood Curiosities Savage Life iii. xi. 263 They [sc. additional wives] are sources of wealth. Not only do they ‘cut their own grass’, as the vulgar Yankee saying is, but make hay..for their lord and master.
1877 W. H. Thomson Five Years' Penal Servitude iii. 242 ‘Cut her own grass!..what is that?’.. ‘Why, purvide her own chump—earn her own living.’
1894 North-eastern Daily Gaz. 11 Sept. It is a maxim with such parents as theirs that, as soon as a boy has grown too big for knickerbockers, he is capable of ‘cutting his own grass’, or in other words, of earning enough for his own keep.
P9. Cf. sense 5d, grass v. 5b.
a. to go to grass: to lie down on or fall to the ground. Now rare.In quot. a1640: to be killed; perhaps instead a figurative use of Phrases 2c(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > fall down or from erect position > specifically of person or animal
to light lowc1225
wendc1300
to seek to the earth or groundc1330
tumblea1375
stretchc1400
to take a fall1413
to blush to the eartha1500
to come down1603
to go to grassa1640
to be floored1826
to take a spilla1845
to come (fall, get) a cropper1858
to hunt grass1872
to come (also have) a buster1874
to hit the deck1954
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Little French Lawyer iv. vi, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. K3/2 Away good Sampson, You goe to grasse els instantly.
1848 F. A. Durivage Stray Subj. 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.
1894 J. D. Astley Fifty Years of my Life I. 82 I naturally went to grass through having too much steam on to be able to pull up in time.
1933 Washington (Iowa) Democrat-Independent 7 Dec. 2/2 The front end tipped up and down came those 250 pounds on top of plug hat and little man and all went to grass together.
b. Boxing. colloquial (chiefly U.S.) to send to (the) grass: to knock down; also figurative. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > bring to the ground/lay low > knock down > specifically a person or animal
fellOE
to strike down1470
quell1535
to run down1587
to trip (also turn, tumble, kick, etc.) up a person's heels1587
to strike up the heels of1602
level1770
silence1785
grass1814
send1822
to send to grass1845
beef1926
deck1953
1845 Era 12 Jan. Jones..dealt out some terrific right-handed blows on his opponent's nut, whom he sent to grass with one from his left on the conk.
1894 Nation (N.Y.) 18 Jan. 39/3 Several of the McKinleyites were sent to grass in the course of the debate.
1901 Times 19 July 4/6 ‘Billy Smith’, thus sent to grass, died of injuries to the brain in Charing-cross Hospital on April. 24.
1935 Montana Standard 24 Nov. (Sports section) 17/2 McDonald was floored..by a hard right to the jaw but got up before the count of ten. He was sent to the grass again, and before he got on his feet McCoy hit him.
†c. U.S. colloquial and regional. to hunt grass: to be knocked down. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > fall down or from erect position > specifically of person or animal
to light lowc1225
wendc1300
to seek to the earth or groundc1330
tumblea1375
stretchc1400
to take a fall1413
to blush to the eartha1500
to come down1603
to go to grassa1640
to be floored1826
to take a spilla1845
to come (fall, get) a cropper1858
to hunt grass1872
to come (also have) a buster1874
to hit the deck1954
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It xlvii. 303 When you get in with your left I hunt grass every time.
1894 Phrenol. Jrnl. Nov. 241/1 There is nothing so fatal to a good impression as what may be called, in the beautiful vernacular of the West, ‘hunting grass’; that is, getting tumbled over and having to scramble around to find out where you are.
1906 Wide World Mag. Aug. 495/1 In the seventh round ‘Curly’ sent ‘Doc’ to hunt grass twice.
P10.
† grass of the Andes n. U.S. Obsolete false oat grass, Arrhenatherum elatius.Cf. grass of Parnassus n. at Parnassus n. 2.
ΚΠ
1837 W. Darlington Flora Cestrica (ed. 2) 67 A[vena] elatior... This plant was introduced to the notice of some of our farmers a few years ago, by the high-sounding name of ‘Grass of the Andes’; but it did not long command their attention.
1864 Trans. Illinois State Hort. Soc. 1863 133 Arrhenatherum avenacum, Oat-grass, or grass of the Andes, is an European species, somewhat cultivated in this country.
1913 N. L. Britton & A. Brown Illustr. Flora Northern U.S. (ed. 2) I. 220 Arrhenatherum elàtius... Tall, or False Oat-grass; Pearl-, Hever-, Evergreen-, Button- or Onion-grass; Button-, Butter- or Onion-twitch; Grass of the Andes.
P11. your ass is grass: see ass n.2 Phrases 15.

Compounds

C1.
a. General attributive, as grass blade, †grass chithe, grass haulm, grass pollen, grass seed, grass stain, etc.
ΚΠ
OE tr. Orosius Hist. (Tiber.) (1980) i. vii. 26 Gærstapan comon, & fræton ealle þa gærsciðas þe bufan þære eorðan wæron.
c1475 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1887) 79 420 Þow euery gress-spyre were a preste þat growyth up-on goddys grounde, Owte of þese peyns þei cowd not me relese.
1588 C. Lucar Appendix cxviii. 113 in tr. N. Tartaglia 3 Bks. Shooting Put your feete close together, and behold with one eie a grasse leafe, stone, or other marke.
1671 J. Ogilby America (new ed.) vii. 494 Their pretended Friend, who spake so shrill by reason of a Grass-blade which he held in his Mouth.
1765 Museum Rusticum 4 383 Grass-seeds gathered clean from the fields.
1824 Trans. Highland Soc. 6 174 The grass-crop on the salted land will not exceed two-thirds of the weight of what is promised on the parts not salted.
1854 S. Thomson Wanderings among Wild Flowers 216 Many of the glumes and paleæ of the grass flowers are marked by nervings or ribs.
1876 Jrnl. Linn. Soc.: Zool. 12 p. x Some small boxes from Mauritius and Madagascar made from some grass-haulm.
1933 Helena (Montana) Independent 8 Jan. 16 (caption) A new process for manufacturing silk out of grass fibre and pigs' blood in a robot run factory.
1954 J. Slaughter Horsemanship for Young Riders 25 Leaf and grass stains are hard to get off.
2018 Daily Mirror (Nexis) 23 July 30 Most people with hayfever are allergic to grass pollen which is worst from mid-May to July.
b. attributive. Designating an area, expanse, or stretch of grass, as grass heath, grass meadow, grass track, grass country, etc.See also garston n., grass croft n. at Compounds 5.
ΚΠ
OE Cynewulf Juliana 6 Arleas cyning..geat on græswong godhergend[r]a, hæþen hildfruma, haligra blod, ryhtfremmendra.
OE Beowulf (2008) 1881 Him Beowulf þanan, guðrinc goldwlanc, græsmoldan træd.
1435 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1883) II. 358 (MED) A comon grond yat lyges..betux ye comon gresefont and ye comon pynfold.
1581 T. Lupton 2nd Pt. Too Good to be True sig. k.iij In some Lordships perhaps..there is little or no Commons, but arrable and Medowe, with smal portions of grasse ground, which are portions appointed or limited to Farmes and Tenements.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice ii. 135 Ride him forth into some plaine grasse fielde which in times past hath been errable, & stil retaineth hye ridges, and deepe forrowes.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 44 We usually make a Grass-walk in the Middle.
1772 R. Waring in Philos. Trans. 1771 (Royal Soc.) 61 372 On the grass-slopes here.
1837 J. L. Williams Territory of Florida 54 The St. Johns rises..in the extensive grass meadows.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters I. i. 5 This is the ‘grass-prairie’, the boundless pasture of the bison.
1947 W. de la Mare Coll. Stories for Children 12 A faint overgrown grass-track.
2016 Eastern Daily Press (Norwich) (Nexis) 16 Apr. These ponies thrive on the grass heaths of the Norfolk Brecks, where other livestock have tended to lose condition.
2018 South Burnett Times & Rural Weekly (Queensland, Austral.) (Nexis) 15 June 48 This beautiful four-bedroom, two-bathroom brick home sits on 14ha of slightly sloping grass country.
c. attributive. Designating livestock kept at pasture; (hence) designating livestock fed exclusively on grass. Also: designating the flesh of such livestock used as food. Cf. grass-fed adj. Chiefly U.S. in later use.See also grass beef n. at Compounds 5, grass cow n. at Compounds 5, grass horse n. at Compounds 5, grass lamb n. at Compounds 5.
ΚΠ
a1500 (a1477) Black Bk. (Soc. of Antiquaries) in A. R. Myers Househ. Edward IV (1959) 81 [Solomon had] dayly x stalfed oxen and xx grasse oxen.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice i. vi. 38 I haue knowne a horse the night before he shold haue runne for a wager..couer a grasse mare, which mare hath held to that horse, & brought foorth a foale.
1722 D. Coxe Descr. Carolana vi. 77 They [sc. stall Oxen] almost equal our grass Cattle.
1898 Monthly S. Dakotan 1 45 Her grass mutton frequently tops the eastern markets.
1931 C. A. Burmeister et al. Econ. Factors affecting Beef-cattle Industry Virginia 45 Most grass cattle are marketed in the late summer and fall near the end of the grazing season.
2006 Geelong (Austral.) Advertiser (Nexis) 10 Jan. 20 Grain fed veal 4 to 6 cents or $10 to $20 cheaper, grass veal 5 to 6 cents or $15 to $20 cheaper.
d. attributive. Designating objects and articles made largely or entirely of grass; spec. designating fabrics woven from grass fibre, or garments, etc., made of such a fabric.See also grass cloth n., grass hut n. at Compounds 5, grass rope n. at Compounds 5, grass skirt n. at Compounds 5, etc.
ΚΠ
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxii. vi. 117 M. Calphurnius Flamma, a Colonell of a regiment of souldiours in Sicilie, was in this manner rewarded and honored with a grasse Guirland.
1760 World Displayed X. 148 The houses, and even the church, are only covered with grass thatch.
1852 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib.: Supplementary Vol. 169 China.—..Grass Cambric, other Cloths, Teas, Edible Birds'-nests and Sea-slugs, Raw and Manufactured Silk.
1896 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 28 Dec. 1/5 Grass dress trimmed with black.
1953 Southwestern Jrnl. Anthropol. 9 31 Female dress consists of a knee-length grass apron with a longer, narrower back panel.
1980 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 15 Nov. Women plait tiny grass baskets to fill with shrine offerings of fish and rice.
2001 Ecologist May 54/1 Boukou Laurent sits on a log under a grass-mat awning at the centre of the compound.
C2. Parasynthetic.
grass-leaved adj.
ΚΠ
1695 E. Gibson tr. W. Camden Britannia 702 A Grass-leav'd childing Water-plant, having young Plants springing from the stalks.
1723 P. Blair Pharmaco-botanologia i. 34 This is a Plant sui Generis, Class'd with the Grass leav'd Tribe.
1883 F. M. Bailey Synopsis Queensland Flora 693 Grass-leaved fern.
1960 N.Y. Times 31 July x39/3 The chief enemy of the dainty grass-leaved liliac or white I[ris] gracilipes is drought.
2017 D. A. Christie tr. L. Jonsson Winter Birds 280 Where I live on Gotland, viper's-bugloss and chicory are popular, as well as..grass-leaved orache.
C3. Instrumental, with past participial adjectives, as grass-clad, grass-covered, grass-roofed, etc.
ΚΠ
1781 J. Swain Coll. Poems 16 In grass clad graves, or golden urns, Shall, in their turns, be food for worms!
1850 E. B. Browning Poems (new ed.) II. 2 Our steeds, with slow grass-muffled hoofs Tread deep the shadows through.
1885 Cent. Mag. Mar. 657/2 His [sc. the Bedouin's] drinking-vessels are gourds and grass-woven bowls.
1889 W. Westgarth Austral. Progress 253 Pretty vistas of grass-carpeted open forests.
1925 E. A. Powell Map that is Half Unrolled iv. 73 A fringe of conical, grass-roofed huts.
2016 Balik Bayan Apr. 78/1 The grass-covered hills dry up and turn chocolate brown during the dry season.
C4. Objective, as grass mowing, grass eater, etc.
ΚΠ
?a1300 Names Hare (Digby 86) in Proc. Leeds Philos. & Lit. Soc. (1935) 6 350 Þe gras-bitere.
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 25 All the foure footed rablement of Herbagers and grasse champers.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry IV lv, in Poems (1878) IV. 14 Hee [sc. Soliman] only swept the Grasse, They the Grasse-Eaters.
1770 A. Young Six Months Tour N. Eng. II. 208 These grass farmers occupy from 5l. to 60l. a year.
1825 W. Cobbett Rural Rides (1885) II. 15 In harvest and grass-mowing time.
1879 J. D. Vaughan Manners & Customs Chinese Straits Settlements 16 The Chinese are everything; they are actors, acrobats, artists,..fruitsellers, ferrymen, grass-sellers, [etc.].
1923 Pop. Sci. Monthly Sept. 27/3 The grass-eating animals, such as the cow and horse, still have this extra stomach.
2014 Sci. News 11 Jan. 15/2 The giant panda, a bamboo-eating member of the mammalian order Carnivora without a grass-grazer's capacious fermenting gut.
C5.
† grass-acre n. Obsolete rare a ploughing service performed by a feudal tenant for his or her lord in return for grazing rights; = grassearth n. [Slightly earlier currency, and wider currency of the term in Middle English, is implied by the post-classical Latin borrowing grasacra (from 1222 in British sources). Occasionally, it is unclear if an abbreviated form in a Latin context should be interpreted as showing the Latin or the Middle English word.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > [noun] > ploughing by season
grassearthlOE
grass-acre1244
summer stirring1613
1244 in C. W. Foster Registrum Antiquissimum Cathedral Church Lincoln (1935) III. 286 Faciendo dicto canonico domino manerii quolibet anno cum qualibet caruca araturam unius acre terre que uocatur Gresacre inter festum sancti Michaelis. & festum sancti Martini.
grass bar n. a bar (bar n.1 15a) in a river, inlet, or harbour overgrown or covered with grass.
ΚΠ
1887 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 9 400 A steamer..drove into these grass bars with such force, that it could move neither backwards nor forwards.
1907 W. M. Graydon Canoe Boys & Campfires xxix. 239 Randy discreetly grounded the canoe on a little grass bar in midchannel, and proceeded to rig up.
2012 Tampa Tribune (Nexis) 7 Sept. (Sports section) 2 The outside grass bars around Charlotte Harbor are starting to turn on for trout fishing.
† grass-bed n. poetic Obsolete a person's grave; (also) a battlefield on which a warrior dies.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [noun] > place of
deathbedOE
grass-bedOE
fosse?a1425
death house1647
bed of death1734
bed of dust1747
deathplace1790
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > grave or burial-place > [noun]
buriels854
througheOE
burianOE
graveOE
lairc1000
lair-stowc1000
lich-restc1000
pitOE
grass-bedOE
buriness1175
earth housec1200
sepulchrec1200
tombc1300
lakec1320
buriala1325
monumenta1325
burying-place1382
resting placea1387
sepulturea1387
beda1400
earth-beda1400
longhousea1400
laystow1452
lying1480
delfa1500
worms' kitchen?a1500
bier1513
laystall1527
funeral?a1534
lay-bed1541
restall1557
cellarc1560
burying-grave1599
pit-hole1602
urn1607
cell1609
hearse1610
polyandrum1627
requietory1631
burial-place1633
mortuary1654
narrow cell1686
ground-sweat1699
sacred place1728
narrow house1792
plot1852
narrow bed1854
OE Paris Psalter (1932) cii. 15 Þonne he gast ofgifeð, syþþan hine gærsbedd sceal wunian.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11969 Uppen þan gras-bedde [c1300 Otho vp-on þan grase] his gost he bi-læfde.
c1400 Wit & Will E/1 (MED) Gres-bed soght. He was þe last þat lost liue of ham alle.
grass beef n. beef from cattle fed exclusively on grass; (in earlier use also) †grass-fed cattle (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > beef > [noun] > types of beef
grass beef1522
manzo1594
bull-meat1812
tide-beef1896
Kobe1900
1522 Ld. Dacre & P. Dacre Ansuer Bill of Instruccions in Archaeologia (1814) 17 203 Ther is, whiche shal alwey be redie unto grisse Beif com, vj. fed Oxen.
1642 J. Busse Humble Petition of Company of Captaines, Officers & Soldiers 5 We have no good grasse Beefe yet which is fat, but I hope shortly they will be good.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 371 These are disposed of to English and south country drovers, for grass-beef.
1833 Belfast News-let. 7 June Grass beef is now coming to market and brings high prices.
1954 Scotsman 27 Mar. 3 West of Ireland Bullocks suitable for early grass beef, all outliers.
2017 Land (Austral.) (Nexis) 29 June 68 She..keeps the livestock side of the plant running..ensuring they are meeting program requirements for the EU, PCAS, organic, and straight grass beef.
grass bleached adj. now rare (of linen) bleached by the sunlight as a result of grassing (grassing n. 4).
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1812 Morning Chron. 30 July Holland and Irish ditto of the same widths (grass bleached) from 2s. to 3s. 2l.
a1910 ‘O. Henry’ Trimmed Lamp in Compl. Wks. (1911) 1066 He..made her a serious proposal of marriage over a box of hem-stitched, grass-bleached Irish linens.
1960 Irish Times 23 Nov. 16/6 (advt.) (heading) Grass bleached fine Irish linen huck.
grass bleaching n. the action or process of spreading fabric, esp. linen, out on grass to bleach in the sunlight; cf. grassing n. 4.
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1792 C. O'Brien Callico Printers' Assistant II. Of colour-making Even then it requires grass bleaching.
1842 R. H. Barham Aunt Fanny in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 143 ‘Grass-bleaching’ will bring it To rights ‘in a jiffy’.
1922 A. S. Moore Linen xi. 144 The grass bleaching is probably the secret of Ireland's white, soft linens.
2005 C. Mendelson Laundry iii. xx. 315 Some Irish linen is still whitened by bleaching in the sunlight, a process called ‘grass bleaching’.
grass box n. a container attached to a lawnmower, into which the cut grass is projected; cf. grass catcher n.
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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > part of
grass box1856
1856 Leeds Mercury 26 Apr. 6/1 The advantages of these machines supersede all others, by having a small wheel in front of the grass box, consequently will mow verges and round flower beds without any change of wheels.
1894 Country Gentlemen's Catal. 289 The Grass Box can be placed either behind or in front of the cutters.
1933 Pop. Mech. June 963/1 (caption) Step pulls out with grass box.
2003 Org. Gardening Sept. 13/2 If there are masses of annual weeds you can cut them back if you wish, using a mower on a very high cut, with the grass-box in place.
grass butter n. now historical butter made from the milk of cows kept at pasture.
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the world > food and drink > food > dairy produce > butter > [noun] > types of butter
May-butter?a1425
clarified butter1562
pot-butter1616
manteca1622
grass butter1648
green butter1654
drawn butter1661
cacao butter1662
ghee1665
rowen1673
ruskin1679
orange butter1696
whey-buttera1722
rowen butter1725
fairy butter1747
grease1788
Cambridge butter1830
stubble-butter1856
black jack1858
maître d'hôtel butter1861
Normandy butter1868
creamery butter1881
pound butter1888
renovated butter1888
samn1888
process butter1898
pool butter1940
garlic butter1942
yak butter1962
Normandy1973
cannabutter1994
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Begrasde boter, grasse butter.
1773 Scots Farmer 1 p. viii (heading) Receipt to prevent the bad effects of turnips in butter, and to make it as sweet as any grass butter.
1827 M. M. Sherwood Lady of Manor V. xxii. 72 Theodore..found his little breakfast-table set out with..white and brown bread, cream, and grass butter.
1940 Times 25 Mar. 4/3 Grass-butter alone is made for about eight months.
2012 Philadelphia Inquirer (Nexis) 24 May Readers could shop for dandelion beer..grass butter and Muringer's patent beef tea.
grass captain n. English regional (Cornwall) Mining (now historical) the supervisor of the surface operations of a mine; cf. sense 5c, captain n. 8.
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1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis iii. iv. 174 The Grass-Captain, who directs the separation of the Ore again above ground.
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 137 ‘Grass captains’..being engaged chiefly on the surface works, or ‘at grass’.
1962 O. Pryor Austral.'s Little Cornwall 35 When the ore was brought up to the surface, it was sorted by ‘pickey boys’ under the supervision of a ‘grass captain’, or surface boss.
2002 W. Graham Bella Poldark i. viii. 75 Near home Valentine called in to see Henry Cook, the grass captain of the Wheal Elizabeth mine.
grass carpet n. a rug or carpet woven from dried grass or other plant fibre, such as sisal.
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1794 Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1879) I. 76 From the Sandwich Islands: Several Fishing Lines and Hooks, a Feather Dress, Feather Necklaces..two Grass Carpets, a Tortoise-shell Spoon.
1831 T. Buttrick Voyages 67 He..conducted me into another neat apartment, spread a handsome grass carpet on the floor, and..bid me welcome.
1914 Dry Goods Economist 25 Apr. 25 (advt.) ‘Crex’ Grass Carpets and Rugs are made from the toughest, longest fibred wire grass that's grown.
2018 Weekend Post (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 4 Aug. Our much-loved little dog has taken to urinating in the house, particularly on our grass carpet.
grass catcher n. a box or other container attached to a lawnmower, into which the cut grass is projected; cf grass box n.
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1891 Iron Age 30 Apr. 854/2 (caption) The Bieder Adjustable Grass Catcher.
1971 CGA Ann. Price List 39/2 Motor Mowers..(4-stroke) complete with grass catcher.
2017 Chronicle (Toowoomba, Queensland) (Nexis) 3 Nov. 19 No grass catcher, dad would spray grass clippings everywhere which we kids were expected to rake up.
grass clipping n. (in plural) loose pieces of grass produced by mowing or cutting; cf. grass cutting n. (b).
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1832 Lancaster Gaz. 23 June A lake of half an acre in extent is quite large enough (with the assistance of corn, refuse vegetables, and grass-clippings, when the weeds run short)..to maintain a pair of swans.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring i. ii. 73 He lifted the astonished Sam, shears, grass-clippings and all, right through the window.
2007 Org. Gardening Apr. 18/2 Organic matter like compost, leaf mold, grass clippings, and manure.
grass cock n. now Irish English (northern) a small heap or stack of grass that has been cut for hay and left in the field to dry; cf. cock n.3, haycock n.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > stooking > stook or cock
shockc1325
cocka1398
stook14..
poukera1450
haycockc1470
cop1512
stitch1603
pook1607
grass cock1614
hattock1673
stuckle1682
cocklet1788
coil?a1800
lap-cock1802
shuck1811
button1850
1614 G. Markham 2nd Bk. Eng. Husbandman ii. vii. 97 The next day you shall make it into little grasse Cockes, as bigge as little Moale-hilles.
1726 Dict. Rusticum (ed. 3) at Windrows From which Windrows the Hay-makers gather it [sc. Grass] into little heaps, wherein it lies the first day to dry that are called Grass-cocks.
1897 Gentleman Farmer Mar. 262/1 We have seen grass spread a few hours after being cut and afterwards saved by constant loosening and re-making of the grass-cocks.
2018 @SMag72 12 July in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) If it was a bad year we would make grass cocks to let the hay dry then build rucks of hay.
grass comber n. British slang (originally and chiefly Nautical) (now only in historical contexts) a farmer, a country person; (sometimes) spec. one who has become a sailor.
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the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > farm worker
hindc1230
land-tiliec1275
fieldera1425
fieldmana1425
land-tiller?a1500
field labourer1610
scullogue1665
fieldworker1691
field hand1774
spalpeen1780
land-worker1782
farmhand1794
field woman1813
grass comber1825
cowman1828
chamar1858
guajiro1901
shamba boy1907
cowman-gardener1908
tractorman1946
hoggler1986
farm worker2017
1825 Brit. Seaman's Advocate No. 1. 29 But at sea, whether in the Navy, the East India Trade, or the Merchant's Service, any Grass comber, any beardless boy, can figure away as the commander of a ship.
1887 W. Besant World Went II. xxix. 309 Luke was a grass comber and a land swab.
1997 J. Kraus & T. Kraus Passages of Gold xvii. 92 I am a vicar, and he is just a farmer—a grass-comber, as I heard the sailors call planters.
grass court n. a tennis court with a playing surface of grass; cf. sense 5e.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > racket games > lawn tennis > [noun] > court > types of
grass court1880
gravel court1890
clay court1916
en tout cas1928
1880 County Gentleman 29 May 546/3 The second tournament..has during the week been held in Dublin, on the grass courts in Fitzwilliam-square.
1930 W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale iv. 48 She's got quite a good grass court.
2006 Runner's World July 120/1 Wimbledon has preserved many traditions, including grass courts, strawberries and cream, and the Centre Court.
grass cow n. now rare a cow kept at pasture; (hence) a cow fed exclusively on grass.
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1826 Scotsman 13 May 304/4 Grass cows met a dull sale at prices also fully 10 per cent. below those of last year.
1949 N.Y. Times 23 July 21/3 Common and medium grass cows, $15.50 to $18.50.
grass croft n. a small enclosed piece of grassland (now rare).
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1349 in M. T. Löfvenberg Contrib. Middle Eng. Lexicogr. & Etymol. (1946) 80 [A] Gryssecroft [containing 1 ½a].
1422 Close Roll, 1 Henry VI (P.R.O.: C 54/273) m. 19 Octo cotagia et triginta Grescroftes in manu eorundem tenentium.
1748 H. Home Unto Lords of Council & Session Petition A. Udny 2 The additional Settlement in favours of the Lady of the House of Tarty, Gardens and Grass Croft thereof.
1849 York Herald 24 Nov. 4/5 Commodious dwelling-house, with Outbuildings, Garden, and Two Grass Crofts containing One Acre, or thereabouts of first-rate Old Sward Land.
1916 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 30 Dec. 924/2 The little grass croft beyond the ditch is still known by its ancient name, ‘Segg Croft’.
2017 Manch. Evening News (Nexis) 16 Dec. 25 Fatally injured, the would-be hitmen staggered out of the pub onto a grass croft beside Fitzwarren Street.
† grass-cut n. Obsolete (in British India) a person employed to cut and bring in grass for use as fodder for horses or other animals; cf. grass cutter n. 1.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > cutting, reaping, or mowing > mowing of grass > one who > for horses
grass cutter1770
grass-cut1842
1842 Bentley's Misc. Jan. 63 You will require..a grass-cut (a mower) to supply them with hay.
1896 Belgravia Dec. 411 A grass-cut followed in her wake, carrying some wild fowl as a contribution from Norah to the cooking pot.
grass cutting n. (a) the action, or an instance of, cutting or mowing grass; (b) (in plural) loose pieces of grass produced by cutting or mowing.In quot. 1793: a quantity of grass that may be cut (see cutting n. 3b).
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1793 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 721/1 A field of grass cutting at the approach into Derby; the thickest, longest, and strongest, I ever remarked.]
1807 Farmer's Mag. May 209 My men, not at the turnip ploughs and grass cutting, are attached to him so long as hay harvest lasts.
1843 Gardeners' Chron. 14 Oct. 720/3 Throw into a heap all refuse vegetable, grass-cuttings, cinder-sistings of the house.
1937 Amer. Home Apr. 98/4 A warning about grass cuttings, which beginners usually rake up and throw away, to the horror of experienced gardeners.
1956 M. Moore Let. 5 Aug. in Sel. Lett. (1997) 531 A few curly pods lying on the grass despite assiduous rakings and grass-cutting.
1998 A. Sturgeon Planted 205/2 A compost accelerator, an additive for rotting down leaves and grass cuttings more quickly.
2008 Independent 20 Mar. 2/7 We used to record the first grass cutting of the year. But in many places now grass grows all year round and..has to be cut all year round.
grasscycling n. chiefly North American the practice of leaving grass cuttings on a lawn after mowing to act as a fertilizer.
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1990 Frederick (Maryland) Post 20 Sept. f1/3 Grasscycling will help landfills last longer, refuse collections will be speedier, and collection costs will be reduced.
1995 C. Miller in J. T. Aquino Waste Age & Recycling Times' Recycling Handbk. i. 32 As some states began to ban yard waste from landfill disposal,..source reduction programs encouraging backyard composting and grasscycling experienced a dramatic surge in growth.
2015 Kerryman (Ireland) (Nexis) 27 May 113 Grasscycling can also reduce your mowing time by 50% because you don't have to pick up afterwards.
grass dance n. a ceremonial dance of certain North American Indian peoples of the Great Plains, typically performed in clothing featuring long, brightly coloured fringes that sway with the dancers’ movements.
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1879 Friend 9 Aug. 413/2 He presented the bishop with the drum of the Order of the Grass Dance.
1917 C. Wissler Amer. Indian xx. 348 The tribes in the Plains area took up the Grass Dance one after the other.
2018 Winnipeg Sun (Nexis) 22 June a6 Houston performed a traditional grass dance dressed in a vibrant green and yellow that he made with his father.
grass-eating adj. = grass-feeding adj.
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the world > animals > by eating habits > [adjective] > herbivorous > that graze
grazing1590
pasturing1606
granivorous1646
grass-eating1646
graminivorous1739
grass-feeding1741
1646 Dispute betwixt Atheist & Christian 34 There is a farre greater value set by the East India Natives, on the English for their valour and magnanimity, then on those Grasse-eating Butter-boxes.
1888 Amer. Naturalist 22 260 The Grass-Eating Thrips.
1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions ix. 117 I have found you..and your grass-eating dogs as well!
1964 M.-L. von Franz in C. G. Jung Man & his Symbols 220 Most grass-eating animals have their young at precisely the time of year when the grass is richest and most abundant.
2005 Economist 4 June 93/3 Canada geese—large, grass-eating birds that cause a lot of problems at airports.
grass farm n. a farm on which livestock graze on grass (rather than another plant).
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1741 P. Skelton Necessity of Tillage & Granaries 55 The whole kingdom wou'd in a little while, become a pretty green spot, a grass farm for it's [sic] neighbours.
1811 C. W. Peale Let. 9 Sept. in T. Jefferson Papers (2007) Retirement Ser. IV. 140 A Grass farm gives the least trouble, and most profit near to the City.
1944 Foreign Affairs 22 268 Lower labor costs on grass land made it easier to be sure of an income from a grass farm.
2006 Field July 122/1 Small, hardy breeds whose lambs are brought down to grass farms to be fattened or mated to larger breeds.
grass farming n. the practice of growing grass on which livestock can graze; (also) the practice of operating a grass farm.
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1791 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. I. 123 Of the mode of grass farming..the following plan is particularly approved of.
1824 St. Louis Enquirer 29 Mar. 1/3 It [sc. turnip farming] must..become an important item in the rotation system of every good farmer who combines arable and grass farming.
1932 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 46 77 This means more grass farming, to which Britain is, on the whole, by soil and climate much more suited than she is to wheat production on any considerable scale.
2008 N.Y. Times Mag. 4 May 8/2 The difference (industrial versus local grass farming) is night and day to animals and environment, not to mention consumers.
grass-feeding adj. feeding (primarily) on grasses, esp. grasses of the family Poaceae; = graminivorous adj.
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the world > animals > by eating habits > [adjective] > herbivorous > that graze
grazing1590
pasturing1606
granivorous1646
grass-eating1646
graminivorous1739
grass-feeding1741
1741 P. Collinson Let. 21 July in J. Bartram Corr. (1992) 159 There seemed a prospect of Dearth & Famine to all grass feeding Animals.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species iii. 75 Grass-feeding quadrupeds.
1974 Illustr. London News 27 July 59/1 Here the butterflies of grass-feeding caterpillars are to be found, such as the Small Copper and Small Skipton.
2001 G. C. McGavin Essent. Entomol. 251 A few grass-feeding species can be minor pests.
grass fight n. Australian (now chiefly historical) a bare-knuckle fight with few or no restrictions or regulations. [Probably with reference to such fights taking place in informal, often outdoor settings rather than a boxing ring. Perhaps compare also grass v. 5b.]
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1904 Evening Tel. (Queensland) 28 July 2/5 This [challenge] was naturally followed by a grass fight, both men being willing.
1927 Gundagai (New S. Wales) Independent 14 July 1/2 Grass fights and reckless drinking helped to liven things up a bit.
1954 Newcastle Morning Herald 26 May 9/6 A lineman..participated in a grass fight..during the match.
2006 Townsville Bull. (Australia) (Nexis) 2 Sept. 43 [He] estimates he's had more than 300 grass fights of the bare knuckle variety.
grass fighter n. Australian (now chiefly historical) a person who fights bare-knuckle with few or no restrictions or regulations.
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1909 Northern Miner (Charters Towers, Queensland) 2 Jan. 2/5 Both men are pretty well known in the North as grass fighters, so a game go was expected.
1918 Queanbeyan (New S. Wales) Age 13 Dec. 4/2 He was reckoned one of the Back Country's champion ‘grass fighters’.
1965 R. H. Conquest Horses in Kitchen 123 He reckoned any good Australian grass-fighter, fast on his feet, could skittle a shillelagh man in no time.
2002 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 15 Apr. 64 Information is eagerly sought on..Lithgow boxers, as well as on wrestling and grass fighters of the past.
grass-finished adj. designating (the meat of) cattle or sheep that have been put to feed exclusively on pasture prior to market; (now usually) used to distinguish (the meat of) animals that have been allowed to feed on pasture for the entirety of their lives, rather than fattened up on grain prior to market; cf. grass beef n., grass lamb n.
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1837 York Herald 29 July The Beasts which were shown in to-day's market, which were chiefly grass-fattened, or rather grass-finished, were of very superior quality.
1881 Minutes of Evid. Commissioners Agric. 607 in Parl. Papers (C. 2778-I) XV. 25 I sent about 250 head of grass finished beef to Dublin to a salesman, and I believe the majority of them go to England.
1914 T. Shaw Managem. & Feeding of Sheep xi. 228 If they can be put upon a finishing ration at the beginning of February, then they may be sold early in May, a month during which good prices usually prevail for such meat, as grass-finished animals have not yet reached the market.
1998 Grocer (Nexis) 26 Sept. Grass finished lamb, now on the market in quantity, has a more intense flavour than lambs finished on concentrate diets.
2009 E. Sarasohn & S. Weiss Compl. Idiot's Guide to Org. Living v. 59 Good options here include..beef labeled as pastured, grass-fed, or grass-finished. All of these terms signify healthy feeding practices, no hormone or antibiotic use.
grass fire n. an uncontrolled and destructive fire burning on an area of grass.
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1821 Lit. Chron. & Weekly Rev. 9 June 353/2 During our travellers short stay at Koblinka, he witnessed a grass-fire, a calamity almost peculiar to the farmers of the Ukraine.
1927 W. Plomer I speak of Afr. i. 13 Thirty miles away a grass-fire gave the air a bluish tinge.
2018 Croydon Advertiser (Nexis) 2 Aug. 12 Firefighters are calling for a temporary ban on barbecues being allowed in public parks as the number of grass fires occurring across London is at an all-time high.
grass flat n. (usually in plural) an area of low level grassy ground, alongside a body of water; (also) an area of swamp or wetland.
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1827 Pensacola Gaz. & W. Florida Advertiser 27 Mar. 1/3 All day, they sailed with a fair wind, and evening lodged them on the extensive grass flats, at the east end of the St. Joseph's.
1963 Motor Boating Sept. 33/1 I enjoy puttering around the banks of the deep water alongside grass flats or other camouflage for small baitfish.
2002 Nature Conservancy Summer 79/3 We pole silently across grass flats and along the sandy beaches of the cayos.
grass flesh n. the flesh gained by an animal put out to graze on grassland.figurative in quot. 1803.
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1803 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 9 Dec. 1688 They were men..who..had not yet got their grass flesh off.
1830 Sporting Mag. July 161/2 Work a horse full of grass flesh.., and see how long that flesh will remain upon his bones.
2003 Associated Press State & Local Wire (Nexis) 4 June Flesh conditions of feeders a major plus for buyers as wheat bloom is all but gone and premium grass flesh more common.
† grass-girl n. Obsolete (perhaps) a promiscuous woman; cf. grass widow n. 1.
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society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun] > sexual indulgence > unchaste behaviour of woman > unchaste or loose woman
queanOE
whorec1175
malkinc1275
wenchelc1300
ribalda1350
strumpeta1350
wench1362
filtha1375
parnelc1390
sinner14..
callet1415
slut?c1425
tickle-tailc1430
harlot?a1475
mignote1489
kittock?a1500
mulea1513
trulla1516
trully?1515
danta1529
miswoman1528
stewed whore1532
Tib1533
unchaghe1534
flag1535
Katy1535
jillet1541
yaud1545
housewife1546
trinkletc1550
whippet1550
Canace1551
filthy1553
Jezebel1558
kittyc1560
loonc1560
laced mutton1563
nymph1563
limmer1566
tomboy1566
Marian1567
mort1567
cockatrice1568
franion1571
blowze1573
rannell1573
rig1575
Kita1577
poplet1577
light-skirts1578
pucelle1578
harlotry1584
light o' lovea1586
driggle-draggle1588
wagtail1592
tub-tail1595
flirt-gill1597
minx1598
hilding1599
short-heels1599
bona-roba1600
flirt1600
Hiren1600
light-heels1602
roba1602
baggage1603
cousin1604
fricatrice1607
rumbelow1611
amorosa1615
jaya1616
open-taila1618
succubus1622
snaphancea1625
flap1631
buttered bun1638
puffkin1639
vizard1652
fallen woman1659
tomrigg1662
cunt1663
quaedama1670
jilt1672
crack1677
grass-girl1691
sporting girl1694
sportswoman1705
mobbed hood1707
brim1736
trollop1742
trub1746
demi-rep1749
gillyflower1757
lady of easy virtue1766
mot1773
chicken1782
gammerstang1788
buer1807
scarlet woman1816
blowen1819
fie-fie1820
shickster?1834
streel1842
charver1846
trolly1854
bad girl1855
amateur1862
anonyma1862
demi-virgin1864
pickup1871
chippy1885
wish-wife1886
tart1887
tartleta1890
flossy1893
fly girl1893
demi-mondaine1894
floozy1899
slattern1899
scrub1900
demi-vierge1908
cake1909
coozie1912
muff1914
tarty1918
yes-girl1920
radge1923
bike1945
puta1948
messer1951
cooze1955
jamette1965
skeezer1986
slutbag1987
chickenhead1988
ho1988
1691 J. Wilson Belphegor Prol. sig. A4 What makes you, leave a fair Wife at home, For a Grass-Girl, or some odd homely Joan?
grass-grown adj. covered or overgrown with grass.
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1720 J. Gay Poems Several Occasions II. 331 The golden spoil They bury deep beneath the grass-grown soil.
1865 C. Kingsley Hereward I. i. 27 The great labyrinth of grass-grown banks.
2014 Times (Nexis) 30 Aug. (Weekend section)15 Common blue butterflies opened their gorgeous wings to the sun..as we strolled the grass-grown track.
grass guard n. Military (historical after late 18th cent.) (chiefly in colonial North America) a soldier or body of soldiers assigned to watch over horses, cattle, or other livestock at grass.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > action or occupation of pasturing > person > grazing guard
grass guard1744
grazing guard1893
1744 R. Molesworth Short Course Standing Rules Govt. & Conduct Army App. 157 The Grass-Guard are not to have their Cloaks along with them.
1751 Lady Luxborough Let. 27 May in Lett. to W. Shenstone (1775) 265 My eyes have..forty-three troop-horses to observe scampering..which, with the tent of the grass-guards, really makes the scenery pretty.
1795 Rules & Regulations Cavalry 119 When the Regiment turns out the greatest part of the horses, the Farrier Major must be at the grass guard.
1915 Course of Study Baltimore County, Maryland, Public Schools 466/1 Serving in the ‘grass guard’ to watch the horses while feeding.
2010 D. Cubbison Brit. Defeat French in Pennsylvania, 1758 viii. 142 Suspecting that this was only a relatively small French raid upon his livestock, Burd initially ordered out the Maryland Battalion of two hundred men to support the grass guards.
grass hawser n. Nautical (now chiefly historical) a large rope or cable made of grass fibre or other plant material; cf. hawser n. a, grass rope n.
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1811 S. Reynolds Jrnl. 22 Apr. in F. W. Howay Voy. New Hazard (1938) 15 Carried grass hawser ashore.
1929 Illustr. London News 24 Aug. 303/1 Near the shore, grass hawsers were attached to the launch and pinnace.
2008 M. J. Smith Timberclads in Civil War iii. 79 A grass hawser was made into breechings and gun tackles were jury-rigged from tackle purchased in a general store.
grass hay n. hay made from grass rather than from another plant such as clover, alfalfa, etc.
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1759 J. Wilkinson Seaman's Preserv. 88 Fine grass hay infused in rain water, makes a liquor which is perhaps one of the most excellent preservatives against..the sea scurvy.
1860 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 9 Mar. 266/1 How much clover and grass-hay do you sell off annually?
1903 Sci. Amer. 22 Aug. 137/3 Cattle in a few instances have been poisoned by eating the leaves of young plants [of jimsonweed] where present in grass hay.
2004 Horse Illustr. Apr. 122/1 Beet pulp has a higher calcium content than grass hay, so I wouldn't recommend it for a horse that..accumulates calcium carbonate sludge in the bladder.
grass hockey n. chiefly Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand hockey played on grass, as opposed to ice hockey; field hockey.rare in British English.
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1897 Amateur Athlete 18 Feb. 6/1 Seeing that the ice game has become so popular here, there is no reason that grass hockey should not be equally so.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 2 Apr. 1/1 The Victoria Grass Hockey Club is holding a practice this afternoon.
2017 Mosman Daily (Austral.) (Nexis) 16 Nov. 35 In Europe grass hockey has all become synthetic turf hockey and it's a great game, allowing more people sporting opportunities and less cancellations.
† grass hole n. originally U.S. Obsolete a pond which fills with water only in the rainy season, or after a period of wet weather, and is grassy when dry.
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1809 E. A. Kendall Trav. Northern Parts U.S. II. xxxviii. 39 Ponds..that being filled only in the wet seasons, and affording grass in the dry, are denominated grass-holes.
1885 Newcastle Weekly Courant 25 Sept. 6/5 Oh, how sweet the rain was in the country, scudding over the green fields, brimming in the grass holes.
† grass holm n. Scottish Obsolete an area of grassland by a river or stream; cf. holm n.1 3.
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1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian xii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. IV. 256 It wad be better laid out on yon bonny grass holms, than lying useless here in this auld pigg.
1885 Glasgow Herald 12 Feb. 2/9 We coursed on some really fine grass holms on the banks of the Firth of Forth.
† grass-honey n. Obsolete honey derived from the nectar of grass flowers.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > other types of honey
clarified honeya1450
flower-honey1577
corn-honey1609
stone-honey1609
hive-honey1653
grass-honey1658
lily-honey1658
stock-honey1742
heather-honey1826
clover honey-
1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 908 From thence it takes the name of grasse-honey [L. mel gramineum]..respect being had to those things from which it is collected or gathered.
1678 J. P. tr. J. Johnstone Descr. Nature Four-footed Beasts i. iv. 60/1 Poudered, and searsed, and kneaded with grasse-hony, it helps the joynts.
grass hook n. a curved, sharp-edged tool used for cutting grass; a sickle.
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > sickle > types of
staff-hook?1523
pease-hook1545
brush-scythe1573
grass hook1665
swipe1742
twibill1763
pea-hook1840
swap-hook1863
1665 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 92 Grasse hooke for the gardiner.
1812 Weekly Reg. (Baltimore) 2 131/1 The purveyor of public supplies advertises for..1000 grass hooks.
2014 Bristol Post (Nexis) 3 Oct. 60 A grass hook is operated with one hand and the blade may easily become embedded in your shin.
† grass horse n. Obsolete a horse kept at pasture; (hence) a horse fed exclusively on grass.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > equus caballus or horse > [noun] > looked after in particular way
grass horse1575
boarder1806
livery1896
1575 in 6th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS: Pt. I (1877) App. 658/1 in Parl. Papers (C. 1745) XLVII. 1 Item for girss to the girss horss 2s.
?a1649 R. Boyle Acct. Philaretus in R. Boyle by Himself & Friends (1994) 17 When in Sommer we take up our Grasse-horses into the Stable & give them store of oates; 'tis a signe that we meane to travell them.
1778 G. White Jrnl. 20 June (1970) xi. 152 His dung was harder & dryer than what usually fall from grass-horses.
1868 Contemp. Rev. May 91 It would be the advantage of England to throw up their husbandry, and to make no use of their lands but for grass horses, milch cows, gardens, and orchards.
1920 D. Lange Threat of Sitting Bull ii. 26 She is white, and she is a grain horse. We take nothing but bays, and blacks or very dark grays. No whites or calicoes; and they must all be grass horses.
grass hut n. a hut, esp. a circular one with a domed roof, the roof and sides of which are made of bundles or mats of dried grass.Grass huts are typically associated with Polynesia and other tropical regions.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > hut or hovel > [noun] > types of
lonquhardc1480
hothouse1643
ajoupa1666
penthouse1683
pandal?1692
bark-hut1744
log-tent1748
log cabin1770
bush-hut1775
log-hut1778
yurt1780
isba1784
beach hut1806
whare1807
bough-house1811
pondok1815
grass hut1818
hartebeest house1818
leaf hut1818
gunyah1820
grass house1823
slab-and-bark hut1826
slab-and-shingle hut1826
slab whare1826
rondavel1829
bush-house1835
skerm1835
jacal1838
toldo1839
log-shanty1847
wurley1847
maloca1853
palm hut1853
whare1853
hutmenta1857
bush-shanty1857
benab1860
pondokkie1862
bothan1863
lanaia1869
hogan1872
tenta1873
beehive-hut1884
leaf shelter1886
Oklahoma1889
goondie1890
cabana1898
troolie hut1899
tukul1901
fale1902
banda1908
kya1909
hut1913
obi1913
Nissen hut1917
Nissen1919
basha1921
tourist cabin1928
bunkie1935
wanigan1937
Quonset hut1942
chickee1943
iron lung1943
Quonset1943
1818 Literary Panorama Oct. 1177 The villages are wretched grass huts.
1906 Illustr. London News 10 Nov. 674 The tomb is an enormous grass hut of the type inhabited by kings and chiefs until very recently.
2017 Gold Coast Bull. (Austral.) (Nexis) 27 Nov. 24 I was posted to a remote area without basic facilities and lived in a grass hut for the first year, living on native food.
grass keep n. British the right to lease an area of grassland, typically for use as pasture; (also) the grassland so used.
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1811 Jackson's Oxf. Jrnl. 5 Jan. 1/3 100 acres of grass keep, till the 1st of April next.
1900 Birmingham Daily Post 5 July 1/6 Three fields of mowing grass, with grass keep till Michaelmas next.
1976 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald 4 Dec. 15/3 (advt.) Clean Grass Keep or turnips wanted for sheep.
2018 North Devon Jrnl. (Nexis) 24 May 10 If you are letting out land as grass keep.., are your tenants all paying the full market rents?
grass lamb n. now rare a lamb kept at pasture, and allowed to graze when weaned; a lamb feeding or finished on grass; (also) the flesh of such a lamb used as food; cf. house lamb n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > lamb > suckling lamb
grass lamb1697
suck-lamb1887
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > lamb > parts of
grass lamb1697
mountain oyster1857
1697 A. S. Husbandman, Farmer, & Grasier's Compl. Instructor 82 As for Lambs, those that Suckle, are for the sweetness of their Flesh, preferred before Grass-Lambs.
1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery xxi. 160 Grass Lamb comes in, in April or May.
1841 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 10 Apr. Some grass lambs brought 19s. to 23s. each.
1937 Agric. Hist. 11 191 Dorset sheep were kept in the Petworth district to produce early grass lamb.
2008 Farmers Guardian (Nexis) 31 Oct. 33 Grass lambs were significantly leaner and showed poorer conformation, and concentrates were needed to supplement grass silage for lambs finished in March.
grass lawn n. now rare a finely woven, gauze-like grass linen, typically used for summer dresses; cf. grass linen n., lawn n.1 1.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from flax, hemp, or jute > [noun] > linen > types of > fine > lawn > types of
pleasance1426
lumberdyne1548
cobweb lawn1603
French lawn1629
quintain1674
lawna1732
grass lawn1843
Indiana1927
1843 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 29 Mar. Grass Lawn and Linen Cambric.
1895 Daily News 2 Aug. 6/6 Grass-lawn..formed the material of many of the prettiest dresses.
1947 Times 6 Sept. 1/4 (advt.) Hand-embroidered on grass-lawn, with taffeta slip.
grass mail n. Scottish (now rare) money paid for the grazing of livestock; rent of pastureland; cf. mail n.1
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > action or occupation of pasturing > pasturing for rent > rent
grass-silver1322
agistmenta1447
grass mail1479
1479 in Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1839) I. 41/1 He Resavit þe said scheipe in gresing fra þe said lady & tuke & Is pait of his gerss male þarfore.
1657 in C. B. Gunn Rec. Baron Court Stitchill (1905) 10 Aught merkes for grass maill with twelve sh. and 8d. for myllestane silver.
1753 Extracts Trial J. Stewart in Scots Mag. June 286/1 10 l. Scots was in payment of the grass-mail of cattle.
1860 Sheriff Court Rep. 77/1 in Sc. Law Jrnl. & Sheriff Court Rec. 2 The defender further averred that he paid Macfarlane the grass-mail, at a settlement of accounts with Macfarlane, who owed the defender for corn and meal.
1947 Berwickshire News 30 Sept. 3/6 The Burgh Treasurer reported that the Grass Mail from season 1947 had been paid.
† grass meal n. Scottish Obsolete the quantity of grass which will feed an animal for the period of the year it is kept at pasture, esp. as expressed in terms of its monetary value.
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?1762 Copy Depositions for Defenders 9 He thinks two Acres thereof, if properly preserved, would pasture one Cow for the Summer Season, and that such Grass Meal is worth twenty Shillings one Year with another.
1872 Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. 4 234 The grass meal per sheep is fixed... The grass meals vary according to circumstances from 9s. to 10s.
grass money n. now historical money paid under any of various circumstances for the grazing of livestock; spec. (a) (originally) †a sum paid to a grassman (grassman n. 2) for the right to graze livestock on the common land of a parish (obsolete); (b) (later chiefly) a sum paid to a North American Indian people for the right to graze cattle on reservation lands.
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1597 in J. Barmby Memorials St. Giles's, Durham (1896) 25 Delyvered of the grasse money.
1766 Ld. Kames Remarkable Decisions Court of Session 1730–52 101 The heretors, who are to be liable at the first instance for grass money, are the same whose lands must be allocated, if not arable.
1890 Trans. Glasgow Archæol. Soc. 1 530 Since Mr. Dow's time the lands of Crosshill have paid to the minister of Cathcart their proportion of grass money in consequence of there having been no grass glebe.
1940 San Antonio (Texas) Light 13 Oct. iii. 16/5 He became agent to the Comanches and other tribesmen in the Indian territory and took their part against cattlemen who were beating them out of their grass money.
2013 G. Frankel Searchers 158 Much of Quanah's wealth came from grass money he received from the cattlemen.
grass nail n. a long, thin rod of iron or a strong wire fixed between a point near the top of the handle of a scythe and a point near the top of its blade, serving as a brace and also to push the cut grass away from the blade.
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1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 240 Grassnail, a long piece of hooked iron, which has one end fixed to the blade of a scythe, and the other to the scythe's handle.
1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens 131 All the gang was there,..some on 'em making grass-nails.
1991 T. Pratchett Reaper Man (1994) 172 You want it beaten out? A new grass nail? Metalwork replacing?.. Nice scythe,..you've kept a good edge on it.
† grass-nurse n. Obsolete rare a young unmarried mother employed as a wet nurse; perhaps cf. grass-girl n., grass widow n. 1.
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the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > [noun] > feeding > feeding offspring > suckling infant > wet nurse
nursea1325
suck-giver1551
milkdame1582
nurse-girl1596
wet nursea1627
suck-nurse1652
dai1782
grass-nurse1797
amah1832
1797 Monthly Mag. 3 34 Girls of this description, are..eagerly sought for, under the appellation of grass-nurses.
grass oil n. a fragrant essential oil obtained from any of several grasses of the genera Chrysopogon and Cymbopogon.Cf. ginger-grass oil. at ginger-grass n. 2b, rosha grass oil at rosha n. 2.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > other plant-derived oils
oil de baya1398
oil roseta1400
alkitranc1400
laurinec1400
oil of spicac1400
seed oil1400
rape oil1420
nut-oil?c1425
masticine?1440
oil de rose?1440
oil of myrtine?a1450
gingellya1544
rose oil1552
alchitrean1562
oil of spike1577
oil of ben1594
myrtle oil1601
sesamus1601
sampsuchine1616
oil of walnuts1622
rape1641
oil of rhodium1649
rapeseed oil1652
neroli1676
oil of mace1681
spirit of scurvy-grass1682
beech-oil1716
poppy oil1737
castor oil1746
oil of sassafras1753
orange-peel oil1757
wood-oil1759
bergamot1766
sunflower oil1768
Russia oil1773
oil castor1779
tung-yu1788
poppy-seed oil1799
cocoa butter1801
sassafras oil1801
phulwara1805
oil of wine1807
grass oil1827
oil of marjoram1829
cajuput oil1832
essence of mustarda1834
picamar1835
spurge oil1836
oenanthic ether1837
tea oil1837
capnomor1838
cinnamon-oil1838
oil of mustard1838
orange-flower oil1838
resinein1841
mustard oil1844
myrrhol1845
styrol1845
oenanthol1847
shea butter1847
wintergreen1847
gaultheria oil1848
ginger-grass oil.1849
nutmeg oil1849
pine oil1849
peppermint oil1850
cocoa fat1851
orange oil1853
neem oil1856
poonga oil1857
xanthoxylene1857
crab-oil1858
illupi oil1858
Shanghai oil1861
stand oil1862
mustard-seed oil1863
carap oilc1865
cocum butter or oilc1865
Kurung oil1866
muduga oil1866
pichurim oil1866
serpolet1866
sumbul oil1868
sesame oil1870
niger oil1872
summer yellow1872
olibene1873
patchouli oil1875
pilocarpene1876
styrolene1881
tung oil1881
becuiba tallow1884
soy oil1884
tea-seed oil1884
eucalyptus1885
sage oil1888
hop-oil1889
cotton-seed oil1891
lemon oil1896
palmarosa oil1897
illipe butter1904
hydnocarpus oil1905
tung1911
niger seed oil1917
sun oil1937
vanaspati1949
fennel oil-
1825 Trans. Med. & Physical Soc. Calcutta 1 367 (heading) Letter addressed to the Medical Board on a medicinal Oil, extracted from a fragrant Grass.]
1827 Trans. Med. & Physical Soc. Calcutta 3 213 I have this day, in compliance with the instructions of the Medical Board, dispatched by dawk banghy, a supply of the Grass Oil (Roosaka Tel,) which I understand to be the subject of Dr. Maxwell's letter (Vide Appendix, 1st vol. Transactions).
1929 H. A. A. Nicholls & J. H. Holland Text-bk. Trop. Agric. (ed. 2) ii. xx. 603 (heading) Aromatic Grass Oils. Cymbopogon spp. The most important grass oils of commerce, except ‘vetiver,’ belong to the genus Cymbopogon (Andropogon), and include:—‘Citronella’... ‘Lemon grass’.
2016 P. Holmes Aromatica I. ii. 55 The grass oils are predominantly either rosy-sweet or green-lemony in fragrance.
grass orphan n. [after grass widow n.] a child living apart from its parents, either temporarily or permanently; cf. grass widow n. 2.
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1875 Inter Ocean (Chicago) 9 July 5/1 It would not be proper to call a young person, lady or gentleman, while away from his or her parents, a ‘grass orphan’.
1960 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. p. xxvi/5 Mercy and Beulah, grass-orphans perpetually at school because their respective parents are working abroad.
2013 H. Ferguson in J. Borwein et al. Lattice Sums Then & Now p. xii I was a strange little grass orphan.
† grass pile n. originally and chiefly Scottish Obsolete a blade of grass; cf. pile n.1 2b.
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a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. Prol. l. 92 The gers pilis.
1644 T. Wolfall Doctr. & Pract. of Mortification xxiii. 260 If every grasse pile in our fields were a precious pearle,..yet were they not all worth the soule.
1728 R. Erskine Saving Sight 24 These that have got a saving Discovery of him, may see more and more of his Glory wheresoever they cast their Eyes, were it but on a creeping Insect or a Grass Pile.
1847 Zoologist 5 1768 A water-rat..was eating the fresh grass-piles with great diligence, biting them off skilfully at the base, and eating upwards, exactly as a rabbit is wont to do.
† grass potato n. Irish English Obsolete (in plural) potatoes planted in good quality pastureland, which does not require fertilizing with manure; see quot. 1850.
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1764 Museum Rusticum 1 7 A parcel of ley land in good heart, that is, which has not been plowed for many years, is set to grass potatoes.
1850 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 1 Apr. It has long been the practice with old pasture lands of the very first quality..to plant on them what was called ‘grass potatoes’;—that is, to lay the potato down on the grass surface and then, without further preparation, to cover them in the usual manner from the furrows.
grass right n. originally and chiefly Australian the right to graze livestock on an area of pastureland; usually in plural.
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1856 Sydney Morning Herald 7 Oct. 5/2 His principle was..that the squatter..should have full possession of the grass rights of the country, but that he should have no title to, and no possession of the land.
1950 New Eng. Q. 23 418 He secured from Ousamequin for the Aquidneck settlers the ‘grass rights’ within the Plymouth Patent.
1997 AAP Newsfeed (Nexis) 18 Nov. He said their pastoral leases gave them grass rights but not timber.
grass rope n. originally and chiefly Nautical a light rope made of coir or other plant material, such as sisal or hemp; cf. grass hawser n., grass line n. 1.
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1789 N. Portlock Voy. round World ix. 182 The anchor-end of the best bower cable being much worn, we yesterday cut about nine fathoms of it off, and in this day were employed in rounding it with grass rope.
1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 147 Veer a buoy or small boat astern by the grass rope [1897 by a grass hawser].
1951 N. Monsarrat Cruel Sea (1953) iv. i. 284 A heaving-line was passed from Compass Rose , and then a light grass-rope, and then the heavy towing-hawser.
2016 Northlines (New Delhi, India) (Nexis) 5 Oct. The Prime Minister of the state was jailed, paraded through main bazaar on foot, handcuffed with grass ropes.
grass scythe n. a scythe for cutting grass.
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe > types of
brush-scythe1573
grass scythe1573
cradle-scythe1669
crather1688
bushwhacker1858
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry f. 15v A brush sythe, & grasse syth.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. v. 244/1 Bush Sythe, Grass Sythe, Rifle and Cradle.
1787 G. Washington Diary (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).
1850 New Eng. Farmer 6 July 219/1 In many cases the grass-scythe is used to its injury, in cutting up bushes in the field, which should be done by a stouter tool, well adapted for that very purpose.
1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 117. 522 (caption) Double rib extra grade all steel grass scythe.
2012 Times of India (Nexis) 13 Oct. These snakes..are dispatched quickly by caddies or the Army's greenskeepers using grass scythes, irons and stones.
grass sea n. now historical (a name for) the Sargasso Sea.With reference to the masses of sargassum seaweed which float on the surface of the sea, and give it its name.
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the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > specific seas > [noun] > Atlantic Ocean > Sargasso Sea
grass sea1700
Sargasso Sea1855
1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 219 From thence we pass'd to the Gras-Zee, or Grass-Sea [Ger. die Graß-See], so called from the Grass which grows there, so that the Sea appears just like a Meadow.
1806 J. Barrow Voy. Cochinchina iv. 73 What may properly be called the Grass sea is comprehended between the 18th and 32d parallels of northern latitude, and between the 25th and 40th meridians of western longitude.
1996 A. Hall tr. R. Simek Heaven & Earth in Middle Ages viii. 98 His [sc. Columbus] sailors feared that the ‘grass-sea’ and the calm would mean that they would be stuck on the open infinite sea for ever.
grass siding n. a strip of grass at the side of a road, track, or path; a grass verge.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > [noun] > verge of
grass verge1706
grass siding1850
grassway1854
long acre1903
verge1953
1850 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour xlii, in New Monthly Mag. May 112 The grass-siding of Orlantire Park-wall favouring their design, they increased the trot to a canter.
1908 Chambers's Jrnl. 7 Nov. 772/2 The man sprang up and followed her, walking noiselessly on the grass siding, and taking care to keep a distance of ten yards or more between them.
2017 Birmingham Evening Mail (Nexis) 22 Feb. 16 The motorcyclists gathered in Garretts Green—riding on pavements, stopping on grass sidings to collect passengers and pulling stunts.
† grass-silver n. Obsolete money paid for grazing livestock on a piece of pastureland; cf. grass money n.An earlier example dated 1258 may occur in a manuscript reproduced in the same source as that of quot. 1322, but the editor of the text indicates that it is dubious or illegible. [Compare Dutch grasgelt, Middle Low German grasgelt, Middle High German grasgelt, lit. ‘grass money’.]
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > action or occupation of pasturing > pasturing for rent > rent
grass-silver1322
agistmenta1447
grass mail1479
1322 in F. M. Page Wellingborough Manorial Accts. (1936) 122 De quaddam consuetudine vocata Gressilver.
1346–7 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1901) III. 743 Gressiluer... Et in herbagio empto pro Joh'e de Haliden, hospit. supervenient. et equis Hostillarii, 11s.
grass ski n. a short ski mounted on small wheels or rollers used as one of a pair for skiing down grass- or straw-covered slopes.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > skiing > [noun] > ski > type of
roller ski1930
sit-ski1948
longboard1950
monoski1953
grass ski1970
snowblade1990
1970 Guardian 11 Apr. 11/2 All one needs to ski without snow..is a pair of stout, ankle-supporting boots and the grass-skis themselves.
2017 MailOnline (Nexis) 24 Jan. Both Kim and Tran are wearing frictionless grass skis.
grass skiing n. the action or pastime of skiing down grass- or straw-covered slopes, typically using a pair of short skis fitted with small wheels or rollers (cf. grass ski n.).
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > skiing > [noun] > types of
cross-country1905
telemarking1905
ski-joring1920
downhill1926
langlauf1927
giant slalom1937
ski-touring1960
schussbooming1961
grass skiing1964
X-C (or XC) skiing1972
heli-skiing1974
ski-walking1974
randonnée1977
sit-skiing1981
off-piste1986
snowblading1993
1964 Daily Mail 24 Aug. 8/1 British Movietonews: U.S. Jungle Survival School, Austrian Grass Ski-ing.
2017 telegraph.co.uk (Nexis) 21 Aug. If you fancy a change from indoor slopes, you could always start gently by finding a hill in your nearest park and giving grass skiing a try.
grass skirt n. a skirt made from long grass and leaves secured to a waistband, typically associated Polynesia (esp. Hawaii), and traditionally worn by hula dancers; (later also) an artificial version of such a skirt, made of raffia, plastic, etc., worn esp. as part of a ‘Hawaiian’ dressing-up outfit.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > clothing for lower body > skirt > types of > made from specific material > other
futah1738
petticoat trousers1749
pareu1769
sisi1810
petticoat1814
grass skirt1875
tub-skirt1909
piupiu1938
cuddle skirt1958
1875 Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1874 5 iii. 300 Grass skirt, from Ponape, Ascension Island, made from banana leaf, worn by the females of all the islands of Micronesia.
1937 C. Gessler Hawaii xxix. 334 The grass skirt introduced in Kalakaua's time survives in Hawaii mainly for sale to tourists.
2018 Tampa Bay (Florida) Times (Nexis) 10 Aug. Hawaiian Night: Dress in grass skirts, tropical shirts and sandals for this dinner dance with music.
† grass spirit n. Obsolete rare alcoholic spirit distilled from fermented grasses.
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1830 M. Donovan Domest. Econ. I. vii. 251 Grass Spirit..procurable in great quantities from the various kinds of grass.
† grass-spring n. poetic Obsolete the time of year in which grass and other plants begin to grow; springtime.Apparently an isolated poetic use, after leaf fall n. (a) at leaf n.1 Compounds 2.
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1840 R. Browning Sordello iii. 327 Leaf-fall and grass-spring for the year.
† grass taffety n. Obsolete a kind of taffeta made from plant fibres; cf. grass linen n.
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1696 J. F. Merchant's Ware-house 27 There is another sort of Indian thing called Longees, this sort is made of the same stuff your Grass Taffeties are.
grassveld n. South African uncultivated and undeveloped grassland; cf. veld n..In quot. 1838 as the name of an area of South Africa. [After South African Dutch grasveld (1761 or earlier; Afrikaans grasveld); compare the much less common Dutch grasveld, denoting grassland more widely (17th cent. with reference to Asia).]
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1838 J. Backhouse Jrnl. 19 Oct. in Extracts from Lett.: 7th Pt. (1840) 17 It [sc. Zwellendam] is situated in that part of the colony called the Gras Veld, which is hilly and verdant, and lies between the Langberg mountains and the coast.]
1870 Natal (Pietermaritzburg, S. Afr.) Witness 9 Aug. The route by Aliwal North and Bloemfontain is decidedly the best, inasmuch as that is grass-veld the whole way from the coast to Bloemfontain, and that not a single instance of oxen dying has occurred to parties taking that road.
1935 Jrnl. Ecol. 23 242 The study of the development of dense thorn and other scrub upon the over-grazed, grass-veld in South and East Africa is of great importance.
2002 T. Pinchuck et al. Rough Guide S. Afr. (ed. 3) 525 The five-kilometre Umkhiwane Trail can be completed in two hours and goes through forest, open grassveld and swamp forest.
grass verge n. a strip of grass at the side of road, track, or path, originally in a garden.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > [noun] > verge of
grass verge1706
grass siding1850
grassway1854
long acre1903
verge1953
1706 G. London & H. Wise Retir'd Gard'ner II. Explanation of Plan sig. Dd2v Four Quarters with Verges of Grass,..Gravel Walks, and an oval Center of a Grass Verge and Border.
1824 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening (ed. 2) ii. iii. 274 Verge-shears..are chiefly used for trimming the sides of box-edgings and grass-verges.
1937 Sunday Times 10 Jan. Nearly all the new roads have broad central ‘reserves’ and broad grass verges on each side.
2004 H. Kunzru Transmission (2005) 162 A TV van and a few hire cars had pulled up on to the grass verge.
grassway n. a strip of grass at the side of road, track, or path; a grass verge.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > [noun] > verge of
grass verge1706
grass siding1850
grassway1854
long acre1903
verge1953
1854 New Monthly Mag. June 221 The two gentlemen on the box made fierce exclamations as they saw us emerge furiously from the grass way and come right on them.
1927 Sunday Express 17 July 17/5 Sometimes the road was so bad that, dodging between the trees, they left it for the flat grassway beside it.
2017 Advocate (Burnie, Austral.) (Nexis) 16 Aug. 17 We have been plagued with riders of scooters, skateboards and bicycles travelling on the private driveway and grassways adjacent to these units.
Grass Week n. Christian Church colloquial (now historical and rare) (a name for) the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday preceding Ascension Day, the Rogation Days; (sometimes more widely) the week in which Ascension Day falls.With reference to the vegetable-based diet eaten on the Rogation Days, when abstention from meat is traditionally required.
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1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Rogation, an asking, demanding, or intreating, whence Rogation week, the next week but one before Whitsunday; so called from the duty of fasting and prayer injoyned at that time by the Church, as a preparative to the feast of the Ascention, it is also called Gang week, and by some Grasse week.
1889 Lancaster Gaz. 15 June In some parts of England, the week is still known as crop week, grass week, and procession week.
1973 Times 2 June 12/2 In other parishes, this was Grass Week, when nothing but vegetables and fasting foods could be consumed until the final day.
grass yard n. a relatively small area of grass enclosed by a fence, wall, or buildings; (Hunting) a grassed enclosure in which hounds are exercised (= green yard n. 1c).
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping dogs or cats > [noun] > keeping or affinity with dogs > place to exercise hounds
grass yard1466
green yard1828
dog run1897
1466 in J. B. Paul Registrum Magni Sigilli Scotorum (1882) II. 185/2 Reservatis dicto Alano, quodam orto, le Girse Yarde nuncupato vulgariter, in quo curie dicti Alani tenentur.
1612 H. Ainsworth Bk. Psalmes Englished with Annot. x. 29 In the wayting-place of the villages or, the ambush of the court yards, both which have their name in Hebrue of the grasse that groweth in them: as it were grass-yards.
1796 P. Beckford Thoughts on Hunting (new ed.) 338 Great grass yard, for airing the hounds belonging to the hunting kennel.
1841 G. Tattersall Sporting Archit. 75 A grass-yard adjoining the kennel.
1949 M. Houghland Gone Away ix. 82 The more space you give a hound, the healthier he is, so the large grass yard should be as extensive as your purse or situation will permit.
2017 Central Queensland News (Nexis) 8 Dec. 52 I am in my cold prison cell after my first official exercise session—four glorious hours in the grass yard behind our block.
C6. In the names of animals, esp. those living in grassy areas or feeding on grass.
grass bass n. chiefly U.S. a crappie (genus Pomoxis); esp. the black crappie, P. nigromaculatus.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Centrarchidae (sun-fish) > [noun] > member of genus Pomoxys > pomoxys sparoides (strawberry bass)
grass bass1838
strawberry bass1867
strawberry perch1877
1838 J. P. Kirtland in 2nd Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Ohio 191 C[ichla] Storeria. The grass-bass of the lake, the bank-lick bass of the Cincinnati market, was first sent to me from Cleveland by Mr. Charles Pease.
1917 Fur News July 40/3 I continued fishing..and in about one hour's time I had thirty-six large sunfish and three grass bass upon my stringer.
2004 K. Schultz Field Guide Freshwater Fish 99/2 Crappie, Black Pomoxis nigromaculatus..other names speckled perch, calico bass, grass bass.., moonfish.
grassbird n. (a) any of various small songbirds, esp. Old World Warblers of (or formerly included in) the genera Schoenicola and Sphenoeacus (frequently with distinguishing word); (b) any of several sandpipers; esp. the pectoral sandpiper, Calidris melanotos (now rare); cf. grass snipe n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Tringa > tringa macularia
jack snipe1664
grassbird?1740
spotted snipe1785
rock-bird1792
peetweet1838
teeter1844
teeter-tail1917
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Sylviidae (warbler) > [noun] > genus Sphenoeacus
grassbird?1740
idle Jack1884
idle Dick1901
?1740 Importance Jamaica to Great-Brit. 38 Among their Birds are..Grass-Birds, Parrots, Parokets, Pink Birds,..and variety without Names in the Woods.
1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 375 Grass Finch..Inhabits New York..Called the Grey Grass-bird.
1859 Ibis 1 257 Semipalmated Sandpiper... ‘Grass Bird’. Occurs in autumn and frequents the ‘pastures’, in flocks from ten to twenty.
1874 Newcastle (Austral.) Chron. 10 Jan. 4/1 We found, in a tuft of grass over-shadowed by wild roses, a grass bird's nest.
1904 Berks, Bucks & Oxon Archæol. Jrnl. 10 64 Grass birds, such as Wood Wren and Willow Wren, rarer the last few years.
1926 A. H. Hamer Wild Flowers of Cape 38 It was a young Cape grass bird; a week later we..saw the mother grass bird feed it on a large green mantis.
1983 H. A. Raffaele Birds Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands 73 Pectoral sandpiper Calidris melanotos. Local Names: Grassbird, Playero manchado.
2015 I. Campbell et al. Birds Austral. 354 Tawny Grassbird..is most common in the Top End (NT [= Northern Territory]).
grass carp n. [after Chinese cǎoyú (16th cent.; < cǎo grass + yú fish)] a large herbivorous carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, which is native to eastern Asia and farmed elsewhere, both as a food source and as a means of controlling aquatic weeds.Also called white amur.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > superorder Ostariophysi or order Cypriniformes > [noun] > suborder Cyprinoidei > family Cyprinidae (minnows and carps) > unspecified and miscellaneous types
snot-fish1655
gilt char1673
vrac1673
carp1789
kurper1831
Prussian carp1836
grass carp1885
saddle carp1888
zebrafish1914
1885 D. J. MacGowan in Bull. U.S. Fish Comm. 5 240 Some [Chinese minnows] fatten on grass, and are called ‘grass carp’.
1971 Nature 15 Jan. 154/1 The Asiatic grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, a gross browser on aquatic vegetation.
2002 Water Gardener July 76 Grass carp are also partial to grass clippings, but make sure the lawn is free from pesticides or weedkillers.
grass cat n. now rare the colocolo or pampas cat, Leopardus colocolo.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Felidae (feline) > [noun] > genus Felis > felis sylvestris (wild cat)
wild catc1400
African wildcat1853
grass cat1890
1890 19th Cent. Feb. 275 The grass-cat, not unlike the wild cat of Europe in its robust form and dark colour, but a larger, more powerful animal, inexpressibly savage in disposition.
1893 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. I. xiii. 430 With the pampas cat, also known as the straw-cat or the grass-cat, we come to the last of the South American cats.
1997 Internat. Zoo Yearbk. 35 100/2 The Pampas cat, also called the Grass cat, inhabits open grassland and savannahs, and also frequents deciduous forests.
grasschat n. English regional (now rare) the whinchat, Saxicola rubetra.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > genus Saxicola > saxicola rubetra (whinchat)
stone-check1668
stone-smatch1668
whinchat1678
stonechat1783
stone-chatter1783
grasschat1805
furze-chat1839
tick1848
stone-chacker1853
furze-hacker1862
fur chuck1885
stone-clink1885
tec-tec1886
1805 C. Fothergill Diary 26 May (1984) 19 Hedge sparrows are called Cuddies in Yorkshire. Stone chats Whin chats. Whin chats Grass chats. Woodpeckers Pickatrees.
1889 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 824/2 Here, too, the meadow-pipits and grass-chats build.
1967 tr. O. Štěpánek Birds Field & Forest (ed. 2) 114 This familiar pose has earned the bird such names as Grasschat and Furzechat.
† grass-drake n. English regional(northern) Obsolete the corncrake, Crex crex.
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the world > animals > birds > order Gruiformes > [noun] > family Rallidae (rail) > crex crex (corn-crake)
raila1450
quail?a1500
corncrakea1525
daker-hen1552
craker1698
corn-craker1703
landrail1766
crake1793
rye-crake1807
grass-drake1826
corn-rail1830
meadow crake1833
meadow gallinule1843
1826 E. Atherstone in Amulet 333 The grass-drake in the fields Kept his monotonous call.
1891 Preston Chron. & Lancs. Advertiser 11 July 3/4 The land-rail, locally termed the grass drake, has been unusually silent this season.
1905 Country Life 5 Aug. 176/2 A crofter spoke of the landrail as the cearrsach,..while an English factor knew it as the grass-drake or meadow-drake.
grass finch n. (a) North American the vesper sparrow, Pooecetes gramineus (now rare); cf. grass sparrow n.; (b) Australian any of various Australian waxbills of the genus Poephila, (family Estrildidae) (also with distinguishing word).
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Estrildidae (wax-bill) > genus Poephila
grass finch1785
chestnut-eared finch1934
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > genus Pooecetes (grass-finch)
grass finch1785
grass sparrow1796
vesper-sparrow1869
vesper-bird1884
1785 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. II. ii. 375 Grass Finch..Inhabits New York..Called the Grey Grass-bird.
1845 Liberator (Boston) 26 Sept. 156/5 A grass-finch skippered to the top of a stump.
1855 A. White Pop. Hist. Birds 151 (running title) The Grass Finch.
1938 Maitland (New S. Wales) Daily Mercury 6 Aug. 2/5 A good long-tailed grass finch will have two very fine feathers in the tail, measuring about 3 inches.
1996 L. S. Jackson et al. Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas v. 366/1 The Vesper Sparrow, once called the Bay-winged Bunting or Grass Finch, is a common sparrow of brushy grassland.
2012 J. M. Forshaw & M. Shephard Grassfinches Austral. 1/1 Altogether, the grassfinches are a most attractive and interesting component of the rich avifauna of Australia.
grass fish n. (a) Caribbean the flat needlefish, Ablennes hians (family Belonidae) (now rare); †(b) U.S. any of several snipe eels of the genus Nemichthys (family Nemichthyidae) (obsolete rare).
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1835 Blue Bk. Statistics Virgin Islands: Tortola (P.R.O.: CO 317/6) f. 82/5 The Virgin Islands are famous for a great variety of Fish Vizt Rock fish..Margarets Grass fish &c.
1880 Harper's Young People 20 Jan. 133/2 (heading) Grass-fish (Nemichlhys [sic.]). The curious fishes..are invariably found among the leaves of a long sea-grass, which very nearly resembles them in form and color.
1939 Virgin Islands of U.S. (U.S. Dept. Interior) (App. K) 40 (list) Grassfish (long gar).
1981 L. Valls What a Pistarckle! 51/2 Grass fish, flat needlefish (Ablennes hiaus [sic]).
grass frog n. any of various frogs that frequent grassy areas; esp. the European common frog, Rana temporaria.
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the world > animals > amphibians > order Anura or Salienta (frogs and toads) > [noun] > types of frog or toad > suborder Diplasiocoela > family Ranidae (common frogs) > rana temporaria (grass-frog)
grass frog1744
1744 Merry Medley I. 297 Take a little Grass Frog, put it in a little Box full of Holes.
1846 G. E. Day tr. J. F. Simon Animal Chem. II. 25 The bile of the grass-frog has a sweetish taste, and is less bitter than fish-bile.
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.
1993 Jrnl. Parasitol. 79 632/1 Consider the ranid frogs belonging to a group called leopard frogs or grass frogs in North and Central America.
2016 J. Speybroeck et al. Field Guide Amphibians & Reptiles Brit. & Europe 56/2 Grass Frog Rana temporaria.
grass grub n. chiefly New Zealand any of various larvae that feed on grass and are typically considered agricultural pests; esp. the larva of a chafer beetle native to New Zealand, Costelytra zealandica.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > genus Melolontha > larva of cockchafer
white grub1496
whitebait1681
ton1693
turk1712
rook worma1722
white worm1724
earth-lard1801
grass grub1854
1854 Courier (Hobart, Austral.) 22 Feb. 2/3 On destroying the 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.].
2014 P. Hadden N. N.Z. vii. 293/1 Similarly, grasslands are attacked by..native grass grubs (mainly Cotelytra zealandica) and porina moths (Wiseana species).
grass moth n. any of various small moths of the genus Crambus or (more widely) the family Crambidae, which are typically found on grass stems with the wings closely folded to the body.The family Crambidae is sometimes classified as a subfamily of the family Pyralidae.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > member of family Crambidae
grass moth1734
veneer1819
mother-of-pearl1850
1734 E. Albin Nat. Hist. Birds II. 11 I found in his [sc. a common Barn-Owl] Stomach several of the white Grass-Moths and other Insects.
1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 136/1 Crambus, a genus of moths..called in England the Veneers, and sometimes grass-moths.
1949 Shafter (Calif.) Press 15 Apr. 2 (advt.) Kills: Roaches, ants, moths, aphids, silver fish, grass moth, chiggers, mosquitoes—any insect.
2001 G. C. McGavin Essent. Entomol. 250 Pyralid, snout or grass moths (Pyralidae) make up a very large family of more than 25,000 species.
grass parakeet n. = grass parrot n.orange-bellied grass-parakeet: see the first element.
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Psittaciformes (parrots, etc.) > [noun] > genus Melopsittacus (budgerigar)
lovebird1837
grass parakeet1840
budgerigar1847
shell parrot1890
budgie1936
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Psittaciformes (parrots, etc.) > [noun] > parakeet > miscellaneous types of
ring parakeet1678
Quaker1776
grass parakeet1840
zebra parakeet1856
1840 J. Gould in Proc. Zool. Soc. London 8 147 Those [birds] now exhibited were three new species of small Grass Parrakeets..; for these he proposed respectively the names Eu[phema] splendida, aurantia, and petrophila.
1885 Standard Nat. Hist. IV. 355 The zebra grass-parakeet, M. undulatus is about seven inches long, yellowish green, with fine dark undulating lines on the head and neck.
1930 W. M. Mann Wild Animals in & out of Zoo xx. 243 We once lost a number of Australian grass paroquets from a large outdoor cage.
2007 Cage & Aviary Birds 31 May 9/2 Most grass parakeets will bring up their young on their own.
grass parrot n. (also with distinguishing word) any of various small Australian parrots, esp. of the genus Neophema, which are native to grasslands, have predominantly green plumage, and are frequently kept as cage birds; = grass parakeet n.
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Psittaciformes (parrots, etc.) > [noun] > genus Psephotus (mulga parrot)
grass parrot1840
mulga parrot1931
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Psittaciformes (parrots, etc.) > [noun] > genus Neophema (scarlet-chested parrot)
grass parrot1840
scarlet-chested parrakeet1901
1840 S. Austral. Colonist 14 July 296/2 Paltee-paltee—species of 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 W. R. Eastman & A. C. Hunt Parrots Austral. 153 Characteristics of Neophema Group... Known as Grass Parrots because they are strictly ground-feeders on grass and herbaceous seeds.
2014 Chron. (Austral.) (Nexis) 6 May a11 Captain J and Sarah Jane are two beautiful Bourke's Grass Parrots looking for a home together.
grass plover n. U.S. (now historical) the upland sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda.
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1829 G. Ord Wilson's Amer. Ornithol. (new ed.) III. 125 Bartram's Sand-piper is known to our shooters by the name of Grass Plover.
1914 Forest & Stream 12 Feb. 751/2 The yellow shanks and grass plover had vamoosed, and the graybacks were by themselves.
2012 R. K. Sawyer Hundred Years Texas Waterfowl Hunting i. 9 Those who hunted shorebirds called them by a wide range of names. The upland sandpiper or plover was called the grass plover.
grassquit n. any of various neotropical tanagers comprising the genera Tiaris, Volatinia, and Loxipasser (family Thraupidae), typically having dull or dark-coloured plumage; also with distinguishing word.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > genus Tiaris (grass quit)
seed eater1820
grassquit1847
1847 P. H. Gosse & R. Hill Birds of Jamaica 254 The name of Quit is applied without much discrimination by the negroes of Jamaica, to several small birds, such as the..Grass Quits which are finches.
1969 Bird-banding 40 275 Severe cases [of Scaly-leg disease] have been seen on..the Yellow-shouldered Grassquit (Loxipasser anoxanthus) and occasionally on the Yellow-faced Grassquit (Tiaris olivacea) and Black-faced Grassquit (T. bicolor).
2002 Brownsville (Texas) Herald 21 July b9/3 Grassquits are notorious for staying low, moving fast and playing shy.
grass shrimp n. (also with distinguishing word) any of various small transparent-bodied shrimps of the genus Palaemonetes or (more widely) the family Palaemonidae, which are found worldwide in freshwater, brackish, and marine environments.
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1908 Gulf Biol. Station Bull. No. 11. 22 This small species is sometimes called the ‘Grass Shrimp,’ from its habit of lurking among the weeds and grasses bordering the bayous and smaller streams along the coast.
1972 M. J. Ursin Life in & around Salt Marshes 59 (caption) Common grass shrimp. Palaemonetes vulgaris... You can distinguish it by the reddish-brown spots on its tail.
2011 Contra Costa Times (Nexis) 11 May Grass shrimp, pile worms and eel are the best baits.
grass snake n. any of various colubrid snakes; esp. (a) either of the common green snakes of the United States, Opheodrys vernalis and O. aestivus; (b) a common Eurasian snake, Natrix natrix, which is typically greenish-brown or greenish-grey with a yellow collar (also called ringed snake).
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > member of genus Natrix > natrix helvetica (ringed snake)
water snake1527
water serpent1530
ringed water snake1668
grass snake1720
ringed snake1776
ring snake1901
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > genus Opheodrys > opheodrys vernalis (green snake)
green snake1699
grass snake1720
1720 D. Neal Hist. New-Eng. II. xiv. 574 The Black-Snake is much longer and swifter of Motion, 'tis of an amphibious Kind, not so venomous as the Rattle-Snake, but more so, than the common Grass-Snakes of several Colours.
1837 Weekly Waterford Chron. 27 May (Suppl.) Sunday morning, a grass snake, two feet and a half long, was taken in Coolmanuck wood..within three miles of Carrick-on-Suir.
1842 J. E. De Kay Zool. N.-Y. iii. 40 This innocent and beautiful species [sc. Coluber vernalis], known in this State as the Green or Grass Snake, has long been confounded with the estivus of the Southern States.
1958 J. Carew Wild Coast iii. 45 They saw a chicken hawk fighting with a grass snake.
1980 M. Shoard Theft of Countryside v. xvii. 186 For our remaining four native reptiles—the adder, common lizard, slow worm and grass snake—national data do not exist.
2003 A. Tennant Snakes N. Amer.: Eastern & Central Regions (rev. ed.) 197 Often called ‘grass snake’, emerald-bodied O[pheodrys] aestivus is color-adapted, instead, to the verdant hue of tree leaves.
2017 P. Aylmer Walking in London 60 Although harmless to humans, the grass snake is certainly not harmless to frogs, toads, fish and small rodents.
grass snipe n. chiefly U.S. any of several sandpipers; esp. the pectoral sandpiper, Calidris melanotos; cf. grassbird n. (b).
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1796 J. G. Stedman Narr. Exped. Surinam I. xiv. 367 The same morning I brought home two birds, the one called toreman, the other a species of grass-snipe.
1891 Boston Daily Globe 18 Apr. 9/1 Grass snipe, fresh killed, $1 to $1.25 a dozen.
1960 E. W. Teale Journey into Summer xxvii. 278 We saw a pectoral sandpiper circling overhead. What was a ‘grass snipe’ doing in this dry, flat land?
2001 R. S. Sharpe et al. Birds Nebraska 179/1 Pectoral Sandpipers will also forage in drier areas of a wetland that are grown over with short vegetation..giving rise to its nickname ‘grass snipe’.
grass sparrow n. chiefly North American any of various American sparrows of the family Passerellidae; esp. the vesper sparrow, Pooecetes gramineus.Cf. grass finch n. (a).
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > genus Pooecetes (grass-finch)
grass finch1785
grass sparrow1796
vesper-sparrow1869
vesper-bird1884
1796 J. G. Stedman Narr. Exped. Surinam II. xxv. 218 Shooting was now..my favourite diversion; and on the 4th I brought home a kind of plover, a couple of red-breasts, and near a dozen grass-sparrows.
1845 Amer. Rev. Oct. 366/1 The little grass-sparrow flitted with a sharp chirp before me.
1934 P. A. Taverner Birds of Canada (Canada Dept. Mines Bull. No. 72) 396 Another of the inconspicuous little grass sparrows, that none but the keenest observer will see or recognize.
2014 J. Sandrock & J. C. Prior Sci. Nomencl. Birds Upper Midwest 118 Pooecetes..gramineus... Common name: Vesper Sparrow... Other names: bay-winged bunting, grass sparrow, pasture-bird.
grass sponge n. chiefly U.S. (also with distinguishing word) any of various soft-bodied sponges of the genus Spongia, esp. S. graminea, which occur in the Gulf of Mexico, the West Indies, and off the coast of Florida and are frequently harvested for commercial use.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Parazoa > phylum Porifera > class Demospongiae > [noun] > order Ceraospongiae > member of
grass sponge1852
glove-sponge1885
1852 Nassau (Bahamas) Guardian 25 Dec. The subscribers..hereby notify their readiness to enter into agreements with the Captains and Owners of sponging vessels, for a period of five years for all boat glove and grass sponge they may collect during that time.
1958 R. B. Bennett Background Information Voluntary Grade Standards Nat. Sponges (U.S. Dept. Interior: Fish & Wildlife Service: Special Sci. Rep.: Fisheries No. 273) 11 The Anclote Grass sponge (Spongia graminea is sold almost always as ‘cuts’, since it grows in the shape of a vase, which is not so much in demand as is the spherical shape.
2005 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 27 Nov. (South Pinellas ed.) (Floridian section) 1 e Big grass sponges like barrels rising from the brown weeds. He rakes them with his hook and..swats them into the net.
grass warbler n. (also with distinguishing word) any of various Old Word warblers, esp. of the genus Cisticola or (more widely) the family Cisticolidae, which typically live in grasslands and have dull, brown-streaked plumage. [With quot. 1840 compare Hindi ghās kī phutkī streaked fantail warbler, lit. ‘grass warbler’, itself apparently after English (and hence implying earlier currency).]
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Sylviidae (warbler) > [noun] > genus Cisticola
pinc-pincc1808
grass warbler1840
1840 T. C. Jerdon in Madras Jrnl. Lit. & Sci. 11 5 P[rinia] cursitans, Frankl. Cat.—Ghas ka Phootkee, or Ghas ka Pit-pittee—Grass warbler–Meadow Wren Warbler.
1905 Bird Notes 3 101 Among our resident Warblers are the Cisticolæ, true Grass-Warblers in every way, as they are hardly ever seen away from the long grass.
1997 K. Baker Warblers Europe, Asia & N. Afr. 16 Grass warblers. Well-represented by seven genera—Megalurus, Chaetornis, Gramnicola, Schoenicola, Locustella, Cisticola and Prinia.
2018 @JVKashangaki 21 May in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) An agitated Moustached Grass-warbler (Melocichla mentalis) oblivious of my presence screeches (sings) away, distressed by something on the ground.
grass worm n. now rare any of various larvae or worms that feed on grass or other cultivated plants.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Chaetopoda > order Oligochaeta > family Lumbricidae > member of (earthworm)
angletwitcheOE
earthworma1400
maddocka1400
tweyangle14..
wormc1400
grass worm1565
easse1582
mad1586
dew-worm1598
ground-worm1599
earth-mad1601
yellowtail1608
twatchel1661
rainworm1731
fish-worm1854
mudworm1871
intraclitellian1888
Morrenian1890
terricole1890
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Bruchus A grasseworme or locuste that hurteth corne.
1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 929 I have seen him [the hornet] to eat of grasse worms.
1771 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. II. 8 The grass-worms have been observed to settle chiefly in a fat soil.
1882 Special Rep. U.S. Dept. Agric. No. 46 8 Young corn in many instances has been destroyed by the cut and grass worms.
1972 Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune 14 May f10/2 Small moths flying around your shrubs may be adults of the grass worm.
grasswren n. †(a) English regional the willow warbler ( Phylloscopus trochilus) or the chiffchaff ( P. collybita) (obsolete); (b) any of various other small songbirds; now spec. any of various Australian songbirds of the genus Amytornis (family Maluridae) with long tails and cryptic coloration (also with distinguishing word).
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > [noun] > subfamily Malurinae (wren-warbler) > genus Amytornis (grass-wren)
grasswren1836
wren1848
1836 E. Blyth in White's Nat. Hist. Selborne (new ed.) 64 (note) The adults of both [species] being known in Surrey by the term ‘grass-wren’.
1874 Ibis 4 155 Scaly-headed Grass-Wren. Tribura squameiceps.
1934 A. Russell Tramp-royal in Wild Austral. xvii. 103 The grass wren he called the ‘jump along’.
2013 I. Campbell & S. Woods Wildlife Austral. 178 Grasswrens are terrestrial birds that are larger and thicker billed than their cousins the fairywrens.
C7. In the names of grasses or other plants resembling grass in some way, esp. in having grass-like leaves.
† grass corn n. Obsolete canary grass, Phalaris canariensis.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > phalaris grasses
grass corn1548
phalaris1548
Canary seed1578
Canary grass1597
chameleon grass1597
lady's laces1597
painted grass1597
sword-grass1598
silver grass1600
Canary1723
reed canary grass1762
ribbon grass1786
gardener's garters1820
dagger-grass1834
daggers1847
bride's laces1854
canary reed1884
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. F.ijv Phalaris..because it is partly lyke grasse and partly lyke corne, it maye be called grasse corne.
1659 G. Torriano Florio's Vocabolario Italiano & Inglese Falúride [sic], the weed Grasse-corn.
1683 W. Salmon Doron Medicum i. 15 Phalaris.., Petty Panick, or Grass Corn, the Juyce of it, as also the Grain, are prevalent against Pain and Diseases of the Bladder.
grass nut n. chiefly U.S. any of various sedges or similar plants having small, edible tubers and often cultivated as crops, esp. the nutgrass Cyperus esculentus; (also) the tuber itself.Cf. chufa n.
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1806 M. Lewis Jrnl. 27 May in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1991) VII. 292 One..had in his mouth two small bulbs of a speceis [sic] of grass, which resemble very much what is sometimes called the grassnut.
1835 A. B. Longstreet Georgia Scenes (1843) 184 He was..raised upon nothing but grass-nuts and sweet potatoes.
1875 Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 5 377 Under the popular name of grass-nut there is included a large number of plants with a small, round, bulbous root, all of which, with one exception, the Indians eat with much satisfaction.
1921 Weekly News Let. (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 6 July 8/1 Some stories tell of grass nuts being dug up after 30 years' burial and still sprouting.
2017 M. M. Iwu Food as Med. x. 326 Cyperus esculentus... Common Names: Tigernut, yellow nutsedge, Chufa flatsedge, earth-almond, grass nut, rushnut, souchet sultan.
grass pink n. (a) the garden pink, Dianthus plumarius; †(b) U.S. an orchid native to central and eastern North America, Pogonia ophioglossoides, having fragrant pink flowers (obsolete rare); (c) North American any of several orchids comprising the genus Calopogon, which are native to eastern North America and have pink, purple, or white flowers and grass-like leaves.
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1664 S. Blake Compl. Gardeners Pract. 59 Pinks. Two sorts there are, viz. the matted Pink, and the grasse Pink.
1811–12 W. J. Titford Sketches Hortus Botanicus Americanus 122 Grass Pink. A small low plant with linear grass-like leaves, and a five-petalled red flower.
1894 Harper's Mag. Mar. 566 The sweet pogonia or grass-pink of our sedgy swamps (Pogonia ophioglossoides).
1899 Sunday Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 30 July ii. 7/6 The turf was dotted with sprays of grass pinks (Calopogon pulchellus), in two colors, deep pink and pale lavender.
1904 L. C. Corbett Ann. Flowering Plants 42 The Scotch pink, or grass pink. The Scotch pink, Dianthus plumarius, is a hardy dianthus.
1996 E. A. Proulx Accordion Crimes (1997) 230 New snow fell,..covering the decaying leaves and raw earth, the single leaf of the grass-pink.
2004 Systematic Bot. 29 308/1 The genus Calopogon..includes five showy, terrestrial species of short-lived, herbaceous perennials known as Grass Pinks.
2012 E. G. Voss & A. A. Reznicek Field Man. Mich. Flora 533 Dianthus plumarius L.—Garden or Grass Pink. Roadsides, fields, open rocky forests, dunes.
grass poly n. a herbaceous loosestrife, Lythrum hyssopifolia (family Lythraceae), native to European wetlands and introduced to North America and Australia where it is considered an invasive weed, having small, pale purple flowers and oval leaves.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Lythraceae (lythrum and allies) > [noun]
grass poly1633
wax-bush1845
Lythrum1862
wax-weed1884
1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) ii. 581 Cordus first mentioned it, and that by the Dutch name of Grasse Poley, which name we may also very fitly retaine in English.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 442 Lythrum..hyssopifolium..Grasspoly, Small Hedge-hyssop.
1991 P. T. Harding in B. Goldsmith Monitoring Conservation & Ecol. viii. 148 One such example, grass poly (Lythrum hyssopifolia), now occurs very infrequently in the British Isles.
2018 @petepoach 29 July in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) Grass-poly, despite the parched conditions doing ok in W Sussex last week.
grass vetchling n. a vetchling found in grassy areas of Europe and the Mediterranean, Lathyrus nissolia, having long, grass-like leaves and small dark pink or crimson flowers.
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1817 H. Smith Flora Sarisburiensis Lathyrus nissolia... Grass vetchling.
1909 W. S. Furneaux Field & Woodland Plants vii. 92 In shady grassy or bushy places we may see the Crimson Vetch or Grass Vetchling (Lathyrus Nissolia).
2008 Times (Nexis) 23 June 27 Grass vetchling..generally has just a single, rich red flower, with the typical shape of a pea flower, growing on a little stalk out of the main stem.
grass weed n. (a) (more fully sea grass weed) any of several seagrasses or aquatic plants; spec. grass wrack, Zostera marina; (b) any of various plants which resemble grass (in various senses) and are considered weeds.
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the world > plants > particular plants > algae > seaweed > [noun] > grass-wrack
sweet-grass1577
grass wrack1633
grass weed1658
eel-grass1790
zostera1819
sea-wrack grass1836
sea-grass1857–8
wigeon grass1857
wigeon weed1893
zos-grass1937
1658 tr. L. Lemnius Secret Miracles of Nature iii. ix. 218 Another kind of Sea-weed that is under the Sea-water, as grasse weed [L. ulva] grows in Lakes and standing waters.
1741 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman May 49 Black Bennet. This is a Sort of Grass-Weed, that kills vast Quantities of Corn, or at least very much lessens their Crops.
1802 Catal. Plants Dublin Soc. Bot. Garden 133 Zostera marina. Sea grass-weed.
1849 Farmer's Mag. May 411/2 The complete and permanent occupation of the ground, to the exclusion of the couch and other grass weeds.
1909 Country Life 22 May 726/2 In the surrounding channel a veritable jungle of grass weed sways with the tides and feeds and hides shoals of tiny fish and crustacea.
1969 Weed Sci. 17 281/2 Giant foxtail..is the most serious annual grass weed species in many midwest corn and soybean fields.
2006 B. Keegan tr. Q. Hirsinger et al. Material World 2 83 Zostera marina (grass weed or grass wrack) is a better thermal insulator than synthetic materials such as fibreglass.
2013 Tasmanian Country (Nexis) 27 Sept. 6 Some variants of a herbicide used to control broadleaf and grass weeds on crops have been banned.
grass wrack n. a common seagrass native to coastal waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, Zostera marina, having long, thin, grass-like leaves.Also called eel-grass, zostera.
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the world > plants > particular plants > algae > seaweed > [noun] > grass-wrack
sweet-grass1577
grass wrack1633
grass weed1658
eel-grass1790
zostera1819
sea-wrack grass1836
sea-grass1857–8
wigeon grass1857
wigeon weed1893
zos-grass1937
1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) iii. 1569 (caption) Grasse Wracke.
1776 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Veg. Great Brit. II. 554 Grasswrack. Zostera.
1877 Blackburn Standard 28 July 2/3 Where it blends with the dull green ocean the backwater is shored with sand, littered with grass-wrack, tangled with sand-wort.
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.
2010 Restoration Ecol. 18 516/1 After three to four weeks many reproductive shoots had released their seeds, allowing a portion of the floating grass wrack to be removed.
C8. In names of disorders and diseases of livestock and words relating to these.See also grass tetany n.
† grass cold n. Obsolete an episode of catarrhal illness occurring in a horse turned out to grass.
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1667 Duke of Newcastle New Method to dress Horses i. 118 Doth not every Body say, when you Take a Horse from Grass, That you take him Up with a Grass-Cold?
1812 W. Singer Agric. County of Dumfries 380 There is a grass-cold, as the farmers call it, that seldom does much harm, or lasts long.
1891 Dundee Courier & Argus 16 Sept. Pursuer deponed that when he purchased the horse he..asked if was suffering from cold, and Bell replied that it had only a little ‘grass’ cold.
grass-ill n. now historical and rare disease causing the sudden death of lambs and young sheep (probably mainly braxy and other clostridial diseases, or louping ill).
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of sheep > [noun] > other disorders of sheep
pocka1325
soughta1400
pox1530
mad1573
winter rot1577
snuffa1585
leaf1587
leaf-sickness1614
redwater1614
mentigo1706
tag1736
white water1743
hog pox1749
rickets1755
side-ill1776
resp1789
sheep-fag1789
thorter-ill1791
vanquish1792
smallpox1793
shell-sicknessc1794
sickness1794
grass-ill1795
rub1800
pine1804
pining1804
sheep-pock1804
stinking ill1807
water sickness1807
core1818
wryneck1819
tag-belt1826
tag-sore1828
kibe1830
agalaxia1894
agalactia1897
lupinosis1899
trembling1902
struck1903
black disease1906
scrapie1910
renguerra1917
pulpy kidney1927
dopiness1932
blowfly strike1933
body strike1934
sleepy sickness1937
swayback1938
twin lamb disease1945
tick pyaemia1946
fly-strike1950
maedi1952
nematodiriasis1957
visna1957
maedi-visna1972
visna-maedi1972
1795 J. Naismith Observ. Breeds Sheep iii. 20 The sickness, or grass-ill, in hogs, proves very fatal in some farms, and in others is little felt.
1807 A. Duncan in Prize Ess. & Trans. Highland Soc. Scotl. 3 351 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.
1834 Veterinarian 7 78 During the spring of 1830, a disease seized a great many of the sheep in the out lands in my neighbourhod denominated Grass-ill, Jumping-ill, Leaping-ill, &c.
1945 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 24 Feb. 247/2 Pigeon-lofts infected with contagious tumours, crop-bound fowls, lambs with grass-ill, and ‘sturdy’ sheep, all provide fascinating problems.
grass-sick adj. rare (of livestock) affected with an illness attributed to being put out to grass; (in later use) spec. (of a horse) affected with grass sickness (grass sickness n. (b)).
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of cattle > [noun] > dietary disorders
dew-bolne?1523
hunger-rot?1523
grass-sick1607
grain-sick1834
hoove1840
grass staggers1858
bloat1878
wobbles1886
grain-founder1890
blowing1891
veld sickness1896
corn-stalk disease1900
cattle-sickness1903
Molteno disease1911
grass tetany1931
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 79 When Oxen come first of all after Winter to grasse, they fall grasse-sicke.
1948 Jrnl. Brit. Grassland Soc. 3 242 It still has to be proved that liver function is normal in ‘grass-sick’ horses.
1958 Brit. Vet. Jrnl. 114 435 It may be significant that grass-sick horses will refuse to graze on cultivated pasture, preferring the rough growth of the roadside.
grass sickness n. (a) any of several diseases and disorders affecting cattle and sheep, typically when newly turned out to grass; esp. bloat (tympany of the rumen) and clostridial diseases (now rare); (b) an acute or chronic disorder with a high mortality rate which affects horses and ponies turned out to grass, characterized by dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system with mainly gastrointestinal symptoms, and often thought to be a type of botulism.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > dietary disorders
surfeit1623
grass sickness1845
loco1876
1845 Simmonds's Colonial Mag. 6 181 The flock-master has cause to be apprehensive lest his sheep, banqueting too freely upon the new grass, should be attacked with a distemper called the grass sickness, peculiar, at least almost so, to pasturage of this kind.
1863 Edinb. Vet. Rev. 5 341 A good many lambs died from grass sickness.
1882 J. W. Hill Princ. & Pract. Bovine Med. & Surg. 171 It [sc. hoven] has been termed grass-sickness, as the affection often follows a greedy meal of rich, succulent, natural, or artificial grasses.
1920 Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. Scotl. 32 375 Grass Sickness in Horses.—Dr.Tocher reported that two cases of ‘Grass Sickness’ had occurred in Forfarshire during the past month.
2015 Courier (Dundee) 3 June (Perth & Perthshire ed.) 7/3 Mrs McDonald was on the month-long trip to raise awareness of grass sickness, a disease that affects the nervous systems of ponies and horses.
grass staggers n. (originally) any of various disorders causing incoordination or muscular weakness or spasms in livestock, including louping ill and (U.S.) loco disease; (in later use) spec. a disorder occurring in cows and ewes turned out to grass after parturition, characterized by muscle spasms, convulsions, and a high mortality rate, and associated with an abnormally low concentration of magnesium in the blood (also called grass tetany, hypomagnesaemia).
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of cattle > [noun] > dietary disorders
dew-bolne?1523
hunger-rot?1523
grass-sick1607
grain-sick1834
hoove1840
grass staggers1858
bloat1878
wobbles1886
grain-founder1890
blowing1891
veld sickness1896
corn-stalk disease1900
cattle-sickness1903
Molteno disease1911
grass tetany1931
1858 Caledonian Mercury 16 Dec. A paper was read by Professor Dick on ‘Stomach or Grass Staggers’.
1889 Science 8 Mar. 176/1 A curious affection which exists among horses in north-western Texas, known as ‘grass-staggers’, which is caused by eating the ‘loco-weed’, which gives rise to the saying that the horses are locoed.
1930 tr. B. Sjollema in Vet. Rec. 17 May 425/1 Grass staggers is characterised by sudden, rapid attacks, often terminating fatally, which appear almost exclusively in milk cows, and then mostly during the first days that the cows are out on grass.
2008 Hobby Farms May 30/1 The symptoms..point to a syndrome known as ‘grass tetany’, or ‘grass staggers’.

Derivatives

ˈgrass-like adj.
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1627 M. Drayton Quest of Cynthia in Battaile Agincourt 137 The Banck with Daffadillies dight, with grasse like Sleaue was matted.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 7 Leaves thread-shaped, grass-like.
1845 Era 7 Sept. 9/2 The whole [enclosure] sodded in the most perfect, workmanlike manner, and now assuming a grass-like appearance of the freshness of spring.
1928 J. Williamson in T. Shippey Oxf. Bk. Sci. Fiction (1992) 65 Then I came upon a bank of violet vegetation. Waist-deep it was, grass-like, with thick narrow leaves.
2004 Aquascape Lifestyles Summer 51 The grasses and grass-like plants, such as sedges, flax, bamboo, and rushes, make the perfect candidates to accompany the rocky terrain of your stream or pond.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† grassn.2

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French gras.
Etymology: < French gras (1791 or earlier in this sense), specific use of gras fat (see grease n.).
Obsolete. rare.
The soapy component of adipocere (grave wax).
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the world > life > the body > bodily substance > fat > [noun] > of dead bodies
grass1793
adipocere1800
grave-wax1854
1793 T. Beddoes Observ. Nature & Cure Calculus 96 The soap or grass is said..not to constitute above 1/ 10 or 1/ 12 of the body.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019).

grassv.

Brit. /ɡrɑːs/, /ɡras/, U.S. /ɡræs/
Forms: see grass n.1; also past participle 1500s–1600s grast.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: grass n.1
Etymology: < grass n.1 Compare earlier graze v.1 and the foreign-language parallels cited at that entry.
1.
a. intransitive. To produce grass; to become covered with grass. Also (now chiefly) with over.
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the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > produce grass [verb (intransitive)]
grassa1425
a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 32 Herbo, to grase.
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 57v To Gresse, herbere, herbescere.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 36 With otes ye may sowe it, the sooner to grasse: and so to good profit, to bring it to passe.
1794 A. Pringle Gen. View Agric. Westmoreland iii. 42 The land is left to itself to grass over.
1861 Sir T. F. Buxton in Peaks, Passes, & Glaciers (1862) 2nd Ser. I. 284 Three mighty ramparts..of which..the youngest has hardly commenced grassing on its outer side.
1917 Reliable Poultry Jrnl. May 320/1 True, poor soil will ‘grass over’ after a fashion, but it will not stay in grass if many fowls are running on it and scratching in it.
2014 S. Hancock Miss Carter's War i. 7 The tank tracks were grassing over.
b. transitive. To cover (land, an area, etc.) with grass or turf; to plant with grass. Frequently with over, down.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivation of specific crops > [verb (transitive)] > crop with grass or hay
turfc1430
sod1652
hay1708
meadow1768
to throw down1778
verd1778
grass1795
returf1824
stock1828
1795 R. Somerville Outl. 15th Chapter Proposed Gen. Rep. Board of Agric. 43 In Cheshire the soil deposited at the extremity of salt marshes..after it has been grassed over for a few years, is said to be the most productive and lasting of any sort of Manure used in the kingdom.
1880 T. Hardy Fellow-townsmen vii. 59 The new house had so far progressed that the gardeners were beginning to grass down the front.
1890 Ann. Rep. Nebraska State Board Agric. for 1889 381 If we are wise and begin..a judicious system of grassing our lands, we may restore the partially exhausted fertility of our soils.
1940 H. J. Massingham Chiltern Country i. 6 Even along the Upper Greensand, a purely arable country, more than half the fields have been grassed down.
1958 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Res. 1 471 Only one of these orchards had been grassed for as long a period as three years and three were grassed in the year preceding the survey.
2009 Birmingham Evening Mail (Nexis) 7 Oct. 3 Instead of..grassing the beds over we are issuing communities with a challenge to design a sustainable, environmentally appropriate bed suitable for the 21st century.
†c. transitive. To enclose in a grass-covered grave. Obsolete. rare.
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1832 L. Hunt tr. W. de Mapes Jovial Priest's Confession in Poet. Wks. 242 I'd just as lief—be buried, tomb'd and grass'd in.
†2. transitive (in passive). To be sunk in grass; to be hidden by (long) grass. Obsolete.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > pasture > to plunge or sink in grass
grassa1500
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > cause to fall on the ground
tumble1534
grassa1670
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xii. 113 1 Pastor. How pastures oure fee?.. Garcio. Thay ar gryssed to the kne.
a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) ii. 20 One Arrow must be shot after another, though both be grast, and never found again.
3.
a. transitive. To feed (cattle, sheep, etc.) on grass; to provide with pasturage; to graze, pasture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > feeding animals > [verb (transitive)] > pasture
leasowc950
feed1382
pasturec1400
grassc1500
graze1564
to put out1600
summer1601
impasture1614
depasture1713
run1767
range1816
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > pasture
leasowc950
feed1382
pasturec1400
to put to grass1471
grassc1500
to turn out?1523
graze1564
impasture1614
put1620
depasture1713
run1767
to run out1851
c1500 Three Kings' Sons (1895) 112 They wolle likken me to a Bocher that gressith beestes.
1584 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 15 Yt is..agreed..that everie iiij pounde rent within this parrishe..shal gras winter and somer one shepe.
1617 Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) I. 162 He to grass 14 hed of cattles till Michas.
1766 W. Gordon Gen. Counting-house 467 Grassing the highland cows.
1871 J. S. Blackie Four Phases Morals i. 43 You expect..your cow when well grassed, to give good milk.
1920 Amer. Hereford Jrnl. 1 June 9/2 He is grassing about 500 steers this summer, mostly Herefords.
1988 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 21 Nov. Free trade. We'll never compete with those guys down in Florida, grassing their cows year-round.
2017 South Sudan News Agency (Nexis) 11 Aug. Lou-Nuer would have been told to stop invading Gaatjiok land and grassed their cattle on the border without crossing into Gaatjiok pastures.
†b. transitive. Of land: to yield enough grass for (a quantity of livestock). Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xix. f. 34v Howe many cattel it wyll grasse.
4. intransitive. Of an animal: to crop and eat the grass in a pasture, field, etc.; to graze.
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the world > animals > by eating habits > [verb (intransitive)] > graze
pasturea1393
depasture1586
grass1596
1596 G. Markham Poem of Poems iv. sig. C6 Thy breasts are like two infant twinned Roes, Grassing where all the white-facst Lillies growes.
1688 in H. Paton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1932) 3rd Ser. XIII. 313 Ther best horse being in the hills grassing.
1859 K. Cornwallis Panorama New World I. 198 The horses had been left grassing at a short remove.
1896 Ipswich Jrnl. 16 May Mr. Turtill pointed to the formation of the lips and to the fact that sheep grassed closer to the ground than nearly every other animal.
1972 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 9 Jan. 6/1 Wide, open land on which fine herds of dairy cattle grassed.
2015 D. Sohn et al. Go Slow & Curvy ii. 45 The outside of the building is designed like a traditional Danish farm and outside there are sheep grassing on the field.
5. To lay out (something or someone) on the grass; (hence) to cause to fall to the ground.
a. transitive. To lay out (cloth or textile fibres, esp. flax or hemp) on grass to bleach in the sunlight. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > make white [verb (transitive)] > bleach > by exposure
bleak1398
bleach1582
grass1650
sour1756
croft1875
photobleach1948
1650 R. Weston Disc. Husbandrie Brabant & Flanders 15 Grassing the seed from the flax.
1726 Great Number Nobility & Gentry (Hon. Soc. Improvers Knowl. Agric. Scotl.) 15 It is a certain Rule that Hemp or Flax ought never to be watered or grassed until it is perfectly dry.
1765 Museum Rusticum 4 460 Short heath is the best field for grassing flax.
1847 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 8 ii. 455 It is not intended to grass the flax immediately that it is taken out of steep.
1874 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 11 Sept. 886/2 August is the time the farmers of Ulster are in the habit of watering and grassing the flax crop.
1903 Jrnl. Soc. Dyers & Colourists 19 38/1 The goods were now washed in the dash-wheel, then spread out on the grass for two or three weeks, then treated with alkali, and grassed again.
1957 E. E. Evans Irish Folk Ways (1967) xii. 158 Then the slimy, stinking beets are taken out of the dam and ‘grassed’, that is spread on grass, usually a new-mown hayfield.
1999 C. Rynne Industr. Archaeol. Cork City & its Environs iv. 97 The cloth was first steeped in a keeve (kieve) filled with cold water for a period of up to nine hours and then spread out on the ground (grassed) for up to four days.
b. transitive. Originally slang. To cause (a person) to fall to the ground; to knock or throw (an adversary) down; (Rugby and Australian Rules Football) to tackle or knock (an opposition player) to the ground.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > bring to the ground/lay low > knock down > specifically a person or animal
fellOE
to strike down1470
quell1535
to run down1587
to trip (also turn, tumble, kick, etc.) up a person's heels1587
to strike up the heels of1602
level1770
silence1785
grass1814
send1822
to send to grass1845
beef1926
deck1953
1814 Sporting Mag. 44 70 A terrific blow on the mouth, which floored or grassed him.
1870 W. Armstrong Wrestliana 197 When they came together again, Thompson grassed his man in a very smart manner.
1883 W. Besant All in Garden Fair I. Introd. 12 His foot caught in a tuft of grass, and he was grassed.
1913 Guy's Hosp. Gaz. 6 Dec. 487/2 Millett grassed him just too late to save a try.
1941 O. St. J. Gogarty Mad Grandeur iv. 65 Suddenly, with a surprising long left, he grassed the Englishman again.
2010 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 12 July (Sport section) 4 Jack showed signs of his rugby league upbringing, grassing Harvey with a copybook tackle.
c. transitive. To catch (a fish) and bring it to the bank of a river, stream, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [verb (transitive)] > bring to bank
landa1609
play1740
work1825
bank1837
creel1844
grass1856
to bring (a hooked fish) to gaff1886
to play along1921
1856 C. Kingsley in Lett. & Memories (1877) I. 490 We'll..Whoop like boys at pounders Fairly played and grassed.
1894 Field 9 June 832/1 One of the anglers..grassed six brace.
1904 King & His Navy & Army 2 July (Suppl.) 8/2 A lady angler grassed a 16-lb. fish.
1966 Fishing Gaz. 23 Apr. 1/2 Mr. Stanley Lewis grassed a 44¼-pounder.
2017 Belfast Tel. (Nexis) 16 Sept. 40 Derek Vance grassed 20 fish including six brownies.
d. transitive. To bring down (game) by a shot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shoot game [verb (transitive)] > bring down by shot
stop1845
grass1871
plaster1883
1871 Daily News 8 Apr. 5 The excitement of grassing blue rocks.
1889 H. O'Reilly & J. Y. Nelson Fifty Years on Trail 21 I lost no time in grassing another [antelope].
1969 Field & Stream Sept. 147/2 The man who taught me more, I suspect, than any of the others about grassing doves was Luther Marvin Collins.
2012 R. Spomer Predator Hunting ix. 119 My hen calls brought the surviving mate on the run, and Mark grassed her as she raced toward the decoys.
e. transitive. Cricket. To drop (a catch). Later also in extended use with reference to dropping the ball in rugby football.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > fielding > field [verb (transitive)] > drop (a catch)
to put down1893
grass1956
spill1975
1956 People 13 May 14/3 Notts seemed to be storing up more trouble for themselves when Miller..gave a chance to first slip which was grassed.
1960 E. W. Swanton W. Indies Revisited v. 124 Illingworth had a very sharp, low c and b chance from Sobers. He grassed it.
1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 28 May Lewis wriggled clear three minutes from time, but winger Chris Close, with a try on, grassed the pass.
2016 Courier Mail (Austral.) (Nexis) 27 Oct. 61 He reached forward defensively against spinner Nathan Lyon and edged to Steve Smith at slip who grassed the catch.
†6. With reference to the idea of putting livestock out to grass; cf. sense 3a and to put (also turn, etc.) (out) to grass at grass n.1 Phrases 2a.
a. transitive. Scottish. To turn (a person) out of office; to vote out. Also intransitive in to send (a person) a-garsing: to turn (a person) out; to send packing. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1763 Scots Mag. July 380/1 The lord provost, the dean of guild, the treasurer, and likewise the deacons of the incorporations, and the convener..are usually continued two years... When they are not continued a second year, they are said to be grased, (a term of dishonour), if not elected into another office.
1776 in A. H. Millar First Hist. Dundee (1923) 155 The Provost..commonly is Two year in his Office, unless there were any malmanagement then they would bring him doun at the end of his first year, which is called girsing him, and choice a new Provost in his room.
1823 J. Galt Entail II. xix. 184 Since that time he's been neither to bind nor to haud, threatening to send me, his mother, a garsing.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. at Gerss This term is well known in the Councils of Boroughs. When a member becomes refractory..the ruling party vote him out at the next election. This they call gerssing him.
b. transitive. English regional (Lancashire). To discharge or suspend (a person) from work for a time, as for misbehaviour. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1882 J. H. Nodal & G. Milner Gloss. Lancs. Dial.: Pt. II 147 What's up wi' yor Jim? Why, he wur drinkin'; an' th' mestur grassed him for a fortnit.
7. transitive. Mining. To bring (ore) to the surface. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1856 Inquirer & Commerc. News (Perth, Austral.) 1 Oct. From this district we learn there is 49½ tons lead ready for shipment, and enough lead ore grassed to produce a further supply of 25 tons.
1933 Queensland Govt. Mining Jrnl. 34 47/2 No ore has yet been grassed.
8. intransitive. Printing slang. Of a compositor: to undertake work on a casual or temporary basis; to do jobbing work (cf. jobbing n.2 3b). Now historical and rare. Cf. grass n.1 11.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printing specific type of work > print specific type of work [verb (intransitive)] > casual work
smoot1683
grass1879
1879 Printing Rev. 7 Apr. 58/2 The subject discussed was the practice of men holding regular frames ‘grassing’ at other offices in their spare time, and by that means preventing other men who were unemployed getting work.
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.
2005 E. Morrison Engines of Infl. iii. 77 The first generation of the reserve army of itinerant compositors who ‘grassed’ (did casual or jobbing work) wherever they could.
9. British colloquial (originally Criminals' slang). Cf. grass n.1 12a.
a.
(a) intransitive. To inform on someone to the police or (later more widely) another person, an authority, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > informing on or against > inform on or against [verb (intransitive)]
inform1588
peach1598
whistle1599
sing1612
whiddlec1661
squeak1690
wheedle1710
whittle1735
to blow the gab1785
snitch1801
rat1810
nose1811
sing1816
gnarl1819
split1819
stag1839
clype1843
squeal1846
blow1848
to round on1857
nark1859
pimp1865
squawk1872
ruck1884
to come or turn copper1891
copper1897
sneak1897
cough1901
stool1911
tattle-tale1918
snout1923
talk1924
fink1925
scream1925
sarbut1928
grass1929
to turn over1967
dime1970
1929 Times 20 Aug. 9/6 The officer said that Reed then asked, ‘Who's been “grassing”?’ That meant, explained the officer, ‘Who has been informing about us?’
1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock iii. ii. 118 I wouldn't grass, Spicer said, unless I had to.
1965 ‘M. Underwood’ Anxious Conspirator xxv. 152 Rutter's not going to tell them that he grassed to me and you're not going to tell them that I grassed to you.
2002 R. Magraw France, 1800–1914 v. 219 Those who ‘grassed’ to teachers were ostracised.
(b) intransitive. With on in same sense.
ΚΠ
1934 E. Browne Road Pirate xvi. 248 Sandy was a good pal, and never ‘grassed’ on me.
1957 P. Beveridge Inside C.I.D. viii. 123 He ‘grassed’ (informed) on the gang, and another nine men went to gaol.
1987 Spectator 14 Mar. 45/2 The next day someone grassed on me to the stage carpenter and I got the sack.
2007 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 25 May 4 Members of the public could be handed huge cash rewards for grassing on people or companies defrauding the Government.
b.
(a) transitive. To inform on (someone) to the police or (later more widely) another person, an authority, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > informing on or against > inform on or against [verb (transitive)]
wrayc725
meldeOE
bimeldena1300
forgabc1394
to blow up?a1400
outsay?a1400
detectc1449
denounce1485
ascry1523
inform1526
promote1550
peach1570
blow1575
impeach1617
wheedle1710
split1795
snitch1801
cheep1831
squeal1846
to put away1858
spot1864
report1869
squawk1872
nose1875
finger1877
ruck1884
to turn over1890
to gag on1891
shop1895
pool1907
run1909
peep1911
pot1911
copper1923
finger1929
rat1932
to blow the whistle on1934
grass1936
rat1969
to put in1975
turn1977
1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid xxvii. 269 Anyhow it was a dirty trick grassing his pals.
1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights 86 What is more he didn't grass any one else.
1986 L. Clancy Crack 48 She grassed me to Father Doyle who threatened excommunication.
2004 S. Quigley Run for Home (2005) xii. 218 He's got to have at least a couple of enemies that'll grass him for a few quid.
(b) transitive. With up or (less commonly) off in same sense.
ΚΠ
1973 Sunday Times Mag. 30 Sept. 38/3 I was inside 18 months. Burglary and I got grassed, by a white guy. He grassed me up.
1989 T. Blacker Fixx xii. 157 The simple expedient of grassing her up to her husband.
1994 G. Legge I love me (who do you Love?) 90 Oh no, Dunx, they're pointing over here. Old Uncle Mel's grassed you off, Dunx.
2014 T. McCulloch Stillman 50 At the change of shift I make sure I keep a careful distance from Stan, wouldn't put it past him to grass me up.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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