grass — English Dictionary

grass
Pronunciations (12)
  • /ɡɹɑːs/
  • [ɡɹ̠ɑːs]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Received-Pronunciation
  • [ɡɹ̠äːs]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Australia
    • New-Zealand
  • [ɡɹ̠ɐːs]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Australia
    • New-Zealand
  • /ɡɹæs/
  • [ɡɹ̠æs]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Canada
    • US
  • [ɡɹ̠ɛəs]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Canada
    • US
  • [ɡɹ̠eəs]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Canada
    • US
  • [ɡɹ̠as]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Ireland
    • Northern-England
  • [ɡɹ̠äs]
    Pronunciation notes
    • Ireland
    • Northern-England
  • [ɡɹ̠ɛəs]
  • ɡɹɑːs

Noun

  1. Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem, especially those grown as ground cover rather than for grain.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    Thou turnest man to destruction: and sayest, Returne yee children of men. / For a thousand yeeres in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past: and as a watch in the night. / Thou carriest them away as with a flood, they are as a sleepe: in the morning they are like grasse which groweth vp. / In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth vp: in the euening it is cut downe, and withereth.

    The cicale above in the lime, / And the lizards below in the grass, / Were as silent as ever old Tmolus was, / Listening to my sweet pipings.

    More examples (1)

    'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.

  2. Any of the various plants that are not in the family Poaceae that resemble grasses.

    Usage
    • Countable
  3. A lawn.

    Usage
    • Uncountable
  4. The outside world, especially in the phrase "touch grass".

    Usage
    • Uncountable
  5. Marijuana.

    Usage
    • Slang
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona / For some California grass

  6. An informer; snitch, police informer; one who betrays a group (of criminals, etc) to the authorities.

    Usage
    • UK usage
    • Countable
    • Slang
    Examples

    What just happened must remain secret. Don't be a grass.

    More examples (1)

    He was a grass and an arse lick and he didn't do it for him, he did it for his brother, because if Vaughan had hit him especially with his mallet, Mark was the kind of lowlife that would have pressed charges and then that's a whole different problem.

    Another claimed a £10,000 bounty was put on his head as he was rumoured to be a “grass”.

  7. Sharp, closely spaced discontinuities in the trace of a cathode-ray tube, produced by random interference.

    Usage
    • Uncountable
  8. Noise on an A-scope or similar type of radar display.

    Usage
    • Slang
    • Uncountable
    Examples
    More examples (2)

    The problem in radar detection is to have a signal to noise ratio that will allow the echo to be seen through the grass on the radar screen. The use of a long pulse allows a greater average signal strength to be returned in the target echoes.

    Some of the scattered waves can be picked up by the receiver and may show up as "grass" on the radar presentation. Weather radars make use of this phenomenon to chart the progress of storms.

  9. The season of fresh grass; spring or summer.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
  10. That which is transitory.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Figurative
    • Obsolete
    Synonyms
    Examples

    The grasse withereth, the flowre fadeth; because the spirit of the Lord bloweth vpon it: surely the people is grasse.

  11. Asparagus; "sparrowgrass".

    Usage
    • Countable
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    'Have ready a hundred of ſmall graſs boiled, then ſave tops enough to ſtick the rolls with, the reſt cut ſmall and put into the cream, fill the loaves with them.'

  12. The surface of a mine.

    Usage
    • Countable

Verb

  1. To lay out on the grass; to knock down (an opponent etc.).

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    The Chicken himself attributed this punishment to his having had the misfortune to get into Chancery early in the proceedings, when he was severely fibbed by the Larkey one, and heavily grassed.

    He flew at me with his knife, and I had to grass him twice, and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had the upper hand of him.

  2. To act as a grass or informer, to betray; to report on (criminals etc) to the authorities.

    Usage
    • Intransitive
    • Slang
    • Transitive
    Examples

    "Grassed on me he did," I said morosely. (Note: Grass is English thief slang for inform.)^([sic])

    More examples (1)

    "I'm dressed as a woman, but I am still technically a man. I believe that to comply with the law of the land I ought to continue to use the Gents', but in order not to look out place I intend to use the Ladies' from now on. I trust none of you will grass on me..."

  3. To cover with grass or with turf.

    Usage
    • Transitive
  4. To feed with grass.

    Usage
    • Transitive
  5. To expose, as flax, on the grass for bleaching, etc.

    Usage
    • Transitive
  6. To bring to the grass or ground; to land.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples
    More examples (2)

    Let him hook and land a tigerfish of 20 lb., at the imminent risk of capsizing and joining the company of the engaging crocodiles, or, when he has grassed the fish, of having a finger bitten off by his iron teeth […]

    In typical Necker style, the farmer walked to the line and mounted his gun without any shilly-shally. If he grassed the bird, he and Faurote would go into a shootout. If he missed, Faurote would win.

Noun

  1. narrow-leaved green herbage: grown as lawns; used as pasture for grazing animals; cut and dried as hay

  2. a police informer who implicates many people

    Synonyms
  3. bulky food like grass or hay for browsing or grazing horses or cattle

    Broader terms
  4. street names for marijuana

Verb

  1. shoot down, of birds

    Broader terms
  2. cover with grass

    Synonyms
    Broader terms
    Examples

    The owners decided to grass their property

  3. spread out clothes on the grass to let it dry and bleach

  4. feed with grass

    Broader terms
  5. give away information about somebody

    Broader terms
    Examples

    He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam

Word forms
grassesgrassesgrassinggrassedgrassed

Code Formatters

Format and beautify Java, Python, JavaScript, JSON, HTML and more; adjust indentation, spacing and line breaks.

More tools

Audio Editing & Effects

Trim, join or split recordings, remove silence or noise, and adjust volume, speed, pitch or channels.

More tools

Spreadsheet Tools

Open and edit CSV or Excel sheets, format tabular text, and convert CSV to Excel or SQL.

More tools

Markdown Tools

Write and preview Markdown, render Mermaid diagrams, and convert Markdown, HTML and tables between formats.

More tools

Text Tools

Compare passages, count words and keywords, sort or replace lines, and view DOCX text.

More tools

Dictionaries

Look up Chinese meanings, synonyms and antonyms, or find IPA pronunciations in multiple languages.

Audio Conversion & Playback

Convert between MP3, WAV, FLAC and more, play audio or raw PCM, and inspect or edit audio metadata.

JSON & Data Tools

Inspect, compare and validate JSON; test JSONPath expressions, or convert data to CSV, YAML and XML.

More tools

Speech Tools

Transcribe audio to text, generate speech from text, or record your voice in the browser.

Video Tools

Convert and compress video, trim or join clips, resize frames, and extract audio.

More tools

Video Playback & Recording

Play local or streaming video, record your screen or camera, and use your camera as an online mirror.

PDF Tools

Compress or merge PDFs, split and rearrange pages, convert pages to images, and view or compare documents.

More tools

Image Tools

Convert image formats, resize or crop photos, compress files, compare pictures, and extract text with OCR.

More tools

Image Creation

Capture and beautify screenshots, turn text into images or GIFs, draw on a whiteboard, and create word clouds or favicons.

More tools

Subtitle Tools

Edit SRT or VTT captions with a video preview, shift timing, convert formats, and manage subtitle tracks.

More tools

Archive Tools

Open ZIP, 7Z, RAR or TAR files, extract selected contents, and create new archives with optional ZIP/7Z passwords.

Encoders | Decoders

Encode and decode Base64 or Base32, escape URLs, HTML and Unicode text, and inspect JWT contents.

More tools

Number Tools

Convert number bases and values between binary, decimal and hex; turn numbers into words or text into binary.

Calculators

Work out percentages and fractions, summarize statistics, and calculate grades, discounts or aspect ratios.

More tools

Time Tools

Show an online clock, run a countdown or stopwatch, and calculate dates, ages or time-zone differences.

More tools

Network Tools

Check your IP and IPv6 connection, inspect HTTP requests or HAR files, and calculate CIDR address ranges.

Unit Conversions

Convert length, weight, temperature, data storage and other units.

Color Tools

Convert HEX, RGB and HSL values, extract colors from an image, check contrast, or test your display with solid colors.

QR Codes & Barcodes

Generate and scan QR codes or barcodes, including QR codes for links and Wi-Fi networks.

Developer & Security Tools

Generate hashes, UUIDs and passwords, test regular expressions, create URL slugs and check file permissions.

More tools

Utility Tools

Check screen resolution and refresh rate, measure with a screen ruler, test keys, or read from a teleprompter.

More tools

Games

2048, Minesweeper, Sudoku, Gomoku, Tank Battle

More tools