cabbage

[ kab-ij ]

See synonyms for cabbage on Thesaurus.com

noun

any of several cultivated varieties of a plant, Brassica oleracea capitata, of the mustard family, having a short stem and leaves formed into a compact, edible head.
the head or leaves of this plant, eaten cooked or raw.

Slang. money, especially paper money.
Chiefly British Informal.
- a stupid, dull, or spiritless person.
- a mentally impaired person who is unable to live independently; vegetable.

Origin of cabbage

1350–1400; Middle English caboche, caboge, cabage head of cabbage <dialectal Old French (Picardy, Normandy) literally, head, noggin, equivalent to ca- formative in expressive words, of uncertain origin + boche;see boss², botch²

Other words from cabbage

cab·bage·like, adjective

Words Nearby cabbage

Other definitions for cabbage (2 of 2)

cabbage²

[ kab-ij ]

noun

Chiefly British.
- cloth scraps that remain after a garment has been cut from a fabric and that by custom the tailor may claim.
- Also called cab. such scraps used for reprocessing.

verb (used with or without object),cab·baged, cab·bag·ing.

to steal; pilfer: He cabbaged whole yards of cloth.

Origin of cabbage

1615–25; earlier carbage shred, piece of cloth, apparently variant of garbage wheat straw chopped small (obsolete sense)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cabbage in a sentence

I most often use this technique for filets of fish, but it’s also great for developing crispy bits on a tray of roasted cabbage or any number of other vegetables.
Don’t Fear the Broiler | Elazar Sontag | February 11, 2021 | Eater
Journalist Anne Applebaum, formerly of The Washington Post, drew this similarity with her piece in the Atlantic last week that compared the vaccine rollout and scramble for appointments in Maryland to a Soviet line for cabbage.
It’s Prague on the Potomac, as we wearily wait for a shot at the vaccine | Petula Dvorak | February 8, 2021 | Washington Post
It extends the life of vegetables by days, or, in the case of cabbage, weeks.
From the Cut: 33 Valentine’s Day Gifts for the Foodie in Your Life | The Cut Staff | February 8, 2021 | Eater
You add chopped carrot and cabbage to the rice and stock, and then cook it all up in the rice maker’s porridge setting.
20 Days of Turkey | Meghan McCarron | December 23, 2020 | Eater
Potatoes, peas, cabbage and garlic all contribute to the hearty, healthy flavor, with some pasta just for the heck of it.
This Weekend: Escape This Messy World With a Memoir | Joshua Eferighe | November 6, 2020 | Ozy

There was also the grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet, and the cookie diet.
Why Your New Year’s Diet Will Fail | Carrie Arnold | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The cooking odors of cabbage and meatloaf and carrots drifted through doorways.
Football Great Bob Suffridge Wanders Through the End Zone of Life | Paul Hemphill | September 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The stewed cabbage is insanely tender, vegetable-sweet, and more luxurious than cabbage has a right to be.
The Heart and Soul (Food) of Orlando | Jane & Michael Stern | June 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Is she back in the orphanage where it smells like ammonia and cooked cabbage?
When An Adopted Child Won’t Attach | Tina Traster | May 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
But equally super are Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cabbage.
The Dangers of Superfoods | Lizzie Crocker | April 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
What of the infinite goodness of God in teaching the grub of the ichneumon-fly to eat up the cabbage caterpillar alive?
God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
Beans and bacon, cabbage and brown hard dumplings, formed the bill of fare, which the men washed down with plenty of table beer.
The World Before Them | Susanna Moodie
They never do anything but eat cabbage and cause gardeners to use bad language.
The Whale and the Grasshopper | Seumas O'Brien
And they both think of the cabbage soup steaming in the pot that hangs from the hook right under the great chimney.
Child Life In Town And Country | Anatole France
When she reached the parlour where the cabbage soup was smoking on the table, Catherine shivered again.
Child Life In Town And Country | Anatole France

British Dictionary definitions for cabbage (1 of 2)

cabbage¹

/ (ˈkæbɪdʒ) /

noun

Also called: cole any of various cultivated varieties of the plant Brassica oleracea capitata, typically having a short thick stalk and a large head of green or reddish edible leaves: family Brassicaceae (crucifers): See also brassica, savoy Compare skunk cabbage, Chinese cabbage
wild cabbage a European plant, Brassica oleracea, with broad leaves and a long spike of yellow flowers: the plant from which the cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprout have been bred

- the head of a cabbage
- the edible leaf bud of the cabbage palm
informal a dull or unimaginative person
informal, offensive a person who has no mental faculties and is dependent on others for his or her subsistence

Origin of cabbage

C14: from Norman French caboche head; perhaps related to Old French boce hump, bump, Latin caput head

British Dictionary definitions for cabbage (2 of 2)

cabbage²

/ (ˈkæbɪdʒ) British slang /

noun

snippets of cloth appropriated by a tailor from a customer's material

verb

to steal; pilfer

Origin of cabbage

C17: of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Old French cabas theft

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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