grass

noun, often attributive \ ˈgras \

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Definition of grass

1 : herbage suitable or used for grazing animals

2 : any of a large family (Gramineae synonym Poaceae) of monocotyledonous mostly herbaceous plants with jointed stems, slender sheathing leaves, and flowers borne in spikelets of bracts

3 : land (such as a lawn or a turf racetrack) covered with growing grass

keep off the grass

the horse had never won on grass

4 grasses plural : leaves or plants of grass

5 : a state or place of retirement

put out to grass

[short for grasshopper, rhyming slang for copper]

slang, British : a police informer

7 : electronic noise on a radarscope that takes the form of vertical lines resembling lawn grass

8 : marijuana

—

grassless

play \ˈgras-ləs\ adjective

—

grasslike

play \ˈgras-ˌlīk\ adjective

See grass defined for English-language learners

See grass defined for kids

Examples of grass in a Sentence

They were smoking some grass.

Recent Examples of grass from the Web

Two small carrots in the grass next to the driveway, where the dogs had spit out the vegetables among their loot.

— christina capatides, CBS News, "Dogs steal mail carrier's lunch, then their apology note goes viral," 6 July 2018
Esrom Habte, 12, and Fathi Mahamoud, 11, were playing in the grass behind their apartment when the attack began.

— rebecca boone, Fox News, "Police: Motive unclear in birthday party stabbing attack," 2 July 2018
Approximately 250 yards across the canyon, a group of wild hogs — some black as ink, others blonde with brown spots and nearly impossible to spot in the dry grass — meandered through the brush.

— ryan sabalow, sacbee, "Wild pigs cause millions in damages in California. But hunting them could become easier," 25 June 2018
On a crisp Monday afternoon, the helmet of cornerback Lorenzo Doss sat alone in the grass.

— chapel fowler, charlotteobserver, "Panthers newcomer is turning heads. Why is Ron Rivera taking wait-and-see approach?," 15 June 2018
While checking out where debris had been left on the field, police discovered that three small fires had been set, causing burn marks in the grass.

— robert a. cronkleton and pete grathoff, kansascity, "Woman allegedly wanders around Kauffman Stadium for a day, sets small fires," 6 June 2018
Maintenance crews and librarians regularly find needles lying in the grass and on sidewalks surrounding libraries, Director of Libraries Vailey Oehlke said.

— abby lynes, OregonLive.com, "Librarians emerge as unlikely players in battle against opioid epidemic," 1 June 2018
Gordon ran in the outfield grass on Sunday and had no issues with the toe.

— ryan divish, The Seattle Times, "Denard Span joins the Mariners: ‘I just want to come in here and fit in with these guys. They already have a good ballclub here.’," 28 May 2018
The man's hand, lying palm-up, was visible in the grass from the corner of Eagle and Green streets.

— emily lane, NOLA.com, "Man killed in Leonidas shooting, the 2nd homicide reported within an hour: NOPD," 24 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'grass.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of grass

Middle English gras, from Old English græs; akin to Old High German gras grass, Old English grōwan to grow

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

grass

verb

Definition of grass

grassed; grassing; grasses

transitive verb

1 : to feed (livestock) on grass sometimes without grain or other concentrates

2 : to cover with grass; especially : to seed to grass

intransitive verb

1 : to produce grass

2 slang, British : inform 2 —often used with on

See grass defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of grass from the Web

Related stories from Star-Telegram Hamels delivers gem as Rangers sweep Mariners Beyond a wild-card race, Rangers from Venezuela in dire fight for family and country Rangers’ new ballpark won’t look like Minute Maid Park, but will grass grow?

— jeff wilson, star-telegram, "Has DeShields raced his way into Rangers’ 2018 lineup?," 21 Sep. 2017
How long should grass get before your town issues a warning or even a fine?

— linda kinsey, cleveland.com, "How should your community handle homeowners whose lawns are overgrown? Share your comments," 21 June 2017
Robotic lawn mowers like the Honda Miimo ($2,499); Robomow ($1,299); and Worx Landroid ($999) are to grass what the Roomba and its ilk are to carpet.

— maria carter, Country Living, "The Roomba for Lawns Is a Yard Work Game-Changer," 19 Apr. 2017

First Known Use of grass

circa 1500

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Grass

biographical name \ ˈgräs \

Definition of Grass

Günter Wilhelm 1927–2015 German writer

GRASS Defined for English Language Learners

grass

noun

Definition of grass for English Language Learners

: plants that have narrow green leaves, that are eaten by cows, sheep, horses, etc., and that are commonly grown on lawns and in gardens
: a particular type of grass
: a person who gives information to the police about the criminal activity of other people : a police informer