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• grass
  grass

  noun

  any plant of the family Gramineae, having jointed stems, sheathing leaves, and seedlike grains.
• Grass
  Grass

  noun

  Günter (Wilhelm) 1927–2015, German novelist, poet, and playwright.

grass

¹ American  

[gras, grahs] / græs, grɑs /

noun

• grass
  plural

1. any plant of the family Gramineae, having jointed stems, sheathing leaves, and seedlike grains.

2. such plants collectively, as when cultivated in lawns or used as pasture for grazing animals or cut and dried as hay.

3. the grass-covered ground.

4. pasture.

   Half the farm is grass.

5. Slang. marijuana.

6. grasses, stalks or sprays of grass.

   filled with dried grasses.

7. the season of the new growth of grass.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cover with grass or turf.

2. to feed with growing grass; pasture.

3. to lay (something) on the grass, as for the purpose of bleaching.

verb (used without object)

1. to feed on growing grass; graze.

2. to produce grass; become covered with grass.

idioms

1. go to grass, to retire from one's occupation or profession.

   Many executives lack a sense of purpose after they have gone to grass.

2. let the grass grow under one's feet, to delay action, progress, etc.; become slack in one's efforts.

Grass ² American  

[grahs, grahs] / grɑs, grɑs /

noun

1. Günter (Wilhelm) 1927–2015, German novelist, poet, and playwright.

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Grass ¹ British  

/ ɡras /

noun

1. Günter ( Wilhelm ) (ˈɡyntər). born 1927, German novelist, dramatist, and poet. His novels include The Tin Drum (1959), Dog Years (1963), The Rat (1986), Crabwalk (2002), and Peeling the Onion (2007). Nobel prize for literature 1999

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grass ² British  

/ ɡrɑːs /

noun

1. 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

2. such plants collectively, in a lawn, meadow, etc

3. any similar plant, such as knotgrass, deergrass, or scurvy grass

4. ground on which such plants grow; a lawn, field, etc

5. ground on which animals are grazed; pasture

6. a slang word for marijuana

7. slang a person who informs, esp on criminals

8. short for sparrowgrass

9. informal an exclamation of disbelief

10. to squander time or opportunity

11. 1. to retire (a racehorse)

    2. informal to retire (a person)

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verb

1. to cover or become covered with grass

2. to feed or be fed with grass

3. (tr) to spread (cloth) out on grass for drying or bleaching in the sun

4. (tr) sport to knock or bring down (an opponent)

5. (tr) to shoot down (a bird)

6. (tr) to land (a fish) on a river bank

7. slang to inform, esp to the police

grass Scientific  

/ grăs /

1. 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.

2. See more at leaf

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grass More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing grass

• don't let the grass grow under one's feet
• put out to grass
• snake in the grass

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• undergrass
  noun
• grassless
  adjective
• grasslike
  adjective
• ungrassed
  adjective
• grassward
  adverb
• grasswards
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• grass
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of grass

before 900; Middle English gras, Old English græs; cognate with Dutch, German, Old Norse, Gothic gras; akin to grow, green

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grass Grass

Injury prevented her playing singles for nine months and when she returned for the grass court season, sickness held her back.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

He focused on the pool’s renovations, how he changed the White House lawn with a better quality of grass and other physical upgrades in Washington.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

It was in a vacant industrial building out in the country where cars parked the grass, kids played in a bounce castle, and their parents watched while taking advantage of a well-stocked open bar.

From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026

Driving up along the Santa Clara river, past invasive mustard grass, three giant tan rocks of glommed-together pebbles and stones tower above the rugged hills.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

‘It’s not like the old days when they’d be sitting there for hours on end, like horses put out to grass.’

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

Grass phytoliths dominated the samples, accounting for as much as 97% of the total.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Sir Tom, who is known for hits including Green Green Grass of Home and What's New Pussycat?, has enjoyed a successful music career stretching over six decades.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Andy Bernadett and his wife, Kim Zwick, ran an accounting and financial-planning firm in Grass Valley, Calif., and loved doing cross-country trips on a tandem bike.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

A trio of beloved bluegrass albums, “The Grass Is Blue,” “Little Sparrow” and “Halos & Horns,” around the turn of the millennium reestablished her as a performer with extensive roots in rural America.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Grass bits spewed into a white sack ballooning behind the motor.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

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Related Words

• barley
• hay
• meadow
• pasture
• sod
• turf

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