Did you know?
Cabbage, Not the Vegetable
Does the "filching" meaning of cabbage bring to mind an image of thieves sneaking out of farm fields with armloads of pilfered produce? If so, you're in for a surprise. This use has nothing to do with the leafy vegetable. It originally referred to the practice among tailors of pocketing part of the cloth given to them to make garments. The verb was cut from the same cloth as an older British noun cabbage, which meant "pieces of cloth left in cutting out garments and traditionally kept by tailors as perquisites." Both of those ethically questionable cabbages probably derived from cabas, the Middle French word for "cheating or theft." The cabbage found in coleslaw, on the other hand, comes from Middle English caboche, which meant "head."
Synonyms
Noun (1)
Examples of cabbage in a Sentence
Philip Freeman, Charlotte Observer, 24 Apr. 2024
Contain Health-Protective Compounds Radishes are a member of the superfood cruciferous vegetable family, which includes cabbage and mustard.
—Cynthia Sass, Mph, Health, 13 Apr. 2024
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and so many other vegetables have had lengthy star turns.
—Aaron Hutcherson, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
This cruciferous veggie —along with kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and rutabaga — provides cancer-fighting compounds called glucosinolates.
—Bethany Thayer, Detroit Free Press, 30 Mar. 2024
The slices of raw eggplant, cabbage and green beans presented with the dip help mellow, only slightly, the rank thunderbolt that hits your tongue.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
With the reopening comes the return of Soul Food Sundays, when a huge spread of food is available, including fried chicken, meatloaf, smothered pork chops, ribs, rib tips and brisket along with side options such as macaroni and cheese, homemade southern collard greens, cabbage and sweet potatoes.
—Amanda Hancock, The Courier-Journal, 15 Mar. 2024
Loading up on cabbage will not entirely prevent cancer.
—Maggie O'Neill, Health, 13 Apr. 2024
Now that same infrastructure, backed by billions of dollars from the Japanese government, is being built about 750 miles away in the cow pastures and cabbage fields of Kikuyo in southwestern Japan.
—John Liu, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cabbage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near cabbage
Cite this Entry
“Cabbage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cabbage. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy Citation
Share