grass
1 Americannoun
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any plant of the family Gramineae, having jointed stems, sheathing leaves, and seedlike grains.
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such plants collectively, as when cultivated in lawns or used as pasture for grazing animals or cut and dried as hay.
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the grass-covered ground.
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pasture.
Half the farm is grass.
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Slang. marijuana.
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grasses, stalks or sprays of grass.
filled with dried grasses.
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the season of the new growth of grass.
verb (used with object)
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to cover with grass or turf.
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to feed with growing grass; pasture.
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to lay (something) on the grass, as for the purpose of bleaching.
verb (used without object)
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to feed on growing grass; graze.
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to produce grass; become covered with grass.
idioms
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go to grass, to retire from one's occupation or profession.
Many executives lack a sense of purpose after they have gone to grass.
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let the grass grow under one's feet, to delay action, progress, etc.; become slack in one's efforts.
noun
noun
noun
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any monocotyledonous plant of the family Poaceae (formerly Gramineae ), having jointed stems sheathed by long narrow leaves, flowers in spikes, and seedlike fruits. The family includes cereals, bamboo, etc
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such plants collectively, in a lawn, meadow, etc
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any similar plant, such as knotgrass, deergrass, or scurvy grass
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ground on which such plants grow; a lawn, field, etc
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ground on which animals are grazed; pasture
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a slang word for marijuana
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slang a person who informs, esp on criminals
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short for sparrowgrass
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informal an exclamation of disbelief
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to squander time or opportunity
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to retire (a racehorse)
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informal to retire (a person)
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verb
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to cover or become covered with grass
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to feed or be fed with grass
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(tr) to spread (cloth) out on grass for drying or bleaching in the sun
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(tr) sport to knock or bring down (an opponent)
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(tr) to shoot down (a bird)
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(tr) to land (a fish) on a river bank
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slang to inform, esp to the police
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Any of a large family (Gramineae or Poaceae) of monocotyledonous plants having narrow leaves, hollow stems, and clusters of very small, usually wind-pollinated flowers. Grasses include many varieties of plants grown for food, fodder, and ground cover. Wheat, maize, sugar cane, and bamboo are grasses.
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See more at leaf
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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undergrassnoun
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grasslessadjective
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grasslikeadjective
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ungrassedadjective
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grasswardadverb
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grasswardsadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of grass
before 900; Middle English gras, Old English græs; cognate with Dutch, German, Old Norse, Gothic gras; akin to grow, green
Explanation
That short green stuff all over the front lawn is grass. What could be better than lying in the grass on a summer afternoon, gazing up at puffy clouds in a blue sky? The word grass goes back to a root that means "green." You're probably familiar with the grass in back yards and city parks. There's also the grass that covers pastures, meant for cows and sheep to graze on, and the grass of grasslands, growing wild on every continent except Antarctica. If you express envy, you may hear the phrase, "The grass is always greener on the other side." In other words, somehow other people's lives always seem better.
Vocabulary lists containing grass
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She is digitising grass species records collected since 1856 to build a detailed picture of how the land has changed over time.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The government says the soil, which is fenced off and covered in grass, is clean—or at least clean enough.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
He put sheep in his fields when the grass was tall so they would clear away the vegetation, he said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
“During COVID, I’d spend all day on the grass waving at everybody,” she says with a laugh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
A run-down shed, a path with broken paving stones, a tiny square of muddy grass, trees along the edge.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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Grass is being watered and cut to FIFA-regulation height to ensure that players don't get any surprises when they take to the field in Los Angeles and Seattle, the venues for their group-stage games.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
Further Ado, another favorite, posted the field’s fastest speed in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 4 and will be ridden by John Velazquez.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Brad Cox, who trains three of those horses, including Florida Derby winner Commandment and Blue Grass champion Further Ado, as well as the interesting long shot Fulleffort, termed the field “very competitive.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026
But Lee Symonds, of the Artificial Grass Company Norfolk and Suffolk, said calls for plastic grass to be banned were somewhat hypocritical.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
Grass and weeds were sprouting around the edges, but putting his hand against the crack, he could feel a draft of air rising from below.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.