Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

grass       (grās)  Pronunciation Key  n.   The grass family. The members of the grass family considered as a group. Any of various plants having slender leaves characteristic of the grass family. An expanse of ground, such as a lawn, covered with grass or similar plants. Grazing land; pasture. Slang Marijuana. Electronics Small variations in amplitude of an oscilloscope display caused by electrical noise. v.   grassed, grass·ing, grass·es v.   tr. To cover with grass. To grow grass on. To feed (livestock) with grass. v.   intr. To become covered with grass. To graze. [Middle English gras, from Old English græs; see ghrē- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Grass       (gräs)  Pronunciation Key  German writer whose novels, notably The Tin Drum (1959) and Dog Years (1963), concern the political and social climate of Germany during and after World War II. He won the 1999 Nobel Prize for literature.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
grass 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

grass
noun
1.	narrow-leaved green herbage: grown as lawns; used as pasture for grazing animals; cut and dried as hay
2.	German writer of novels and poetry and plays (born 1927)
3.	a police informer who implicates many people [syn: supergrass]
4.	bulky food like grass or hay for browsing or grazing horses or cattle [syn: eatage]
5.	street names for marijuana
verb
1.	shoot down, of birds
2.	cover with grass; "The owners decided to grass their property"
3.	spread out clothes on the grass to let it dry and bleach
4.	cover with grass
5.	feed with grass
6.	give away information about somebody; "He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam"

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

grass

In addition to the idioms beginning with grass, also see don't let the grass grow under one's feet; put out to grass; snake in the grass.

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

grass       (grās)  Pronunciation Key  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. See more at leaf.

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Grass Valley, CA (city, FIPS 30798) Location: 39.22146 N, 121.05667 W
Population (1990): 9048 (4385 housing units)
Area: 9.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 95945, 95949

Grass Creek, WY Zip code(s): 82443

Grass Lake, MI (village, FIPS 34480) Location: 42.25087 N, 84.20595 W
Population (1990): 903 (352 housing units)
Area: 2.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 49240

Grass Range, MT (town, FIPS 32575) Location: 47.02680 N, 108.80279 W
Population (1990): 159 (107 housing units)
Area: 0.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 59032

Grass Valley, OR (city, FIPS 30650) Location: 45.35989 N, 120.78318 W
Population (1990): 160 (78 housing units)
Area: 1.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 97029

Orchard Grass Hills, KY (city, FIPS 58200) Location: 38.32469 N, 85.52338 W
Population (1990): 1058 (328 housing units)
Area: 0.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Sweet Grass County, MT (county, FIPS 97) Location: 45.81407 N, 109.94338 W
Population (1990): 3154 (1639 housing units)
Area: 4804.9 sq km (land), 17.9 sq km (water)

Lodge Grass, MT (town, FIPS 44275) Location: 45.31440 N, 107.36659 W
Population (1990): 517 (176 housing units)
Area: 0.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 59050

Blue Grass, VA Zip code(s): 24413

Blue Grass, IA (city, FIPS 7075) Location: 41.50858 N, 90.76365 W
Population (1990): 1214 (421 housing units)
Area: 6.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 52726

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Grass

Grass\, n. [OE. gras, gres, gers, AS, gr[ae]s, g[ae]rs; akin to OFries. gres, gers, OS., D., G., Icel., & Goth. gras, Dan. gr[ae]s, Sw. gr[aum]s, and prob. to E. green, grow. Cf. Graze.]

1. Popularly: Herbage; the plants which constitute the food of cattle and other beasts; pasture.

2. (Bot.) An endogenous plant having simple leaves, a stem generally jointed and tubular, the husks or glumes in pairs, and the seed single.

Note: This definition includes wheat, rye, oats, barley, etc., and excludes clover and some other plants which are commonly called by the name of grass. The grasses form a numerous family of plants.

3. The season of fresh grass; spring. [Colloq.]

Two years old next grass. --Latham.

4. Metaphorically used for what is transitory.

Surely the people is grass. --Is. xl. 7.

Note: The following list includes most of the grasses of the United States of special interest, except cereals. Many of these terms will be found with definitions in the Vocabulary. See Illustrations in Appendix. Barnyard grass, for hay. South. Panicum Grus-galli. Bent, pasture and hay. Agrostis, several species. Bermuda grass, pasture. South. Cynodon Dactylon. Black bent. Same as Switch grass (below). Blue bent, hay. North and West. Andropogon provincialis. Blue grass, pasture. Poa compressa. Blue joint, hay. Northwest. Aqropyrum glaucum. Buffalo grass, grazing. Rocky Mts., etc. (a) Buchlo["e] dectyloides. (b) Same as Grama grass (below). Bunch grass, grazing. Far West. Eriocoma, Festuca, Stips, etc. Chess, or Cheat, a weed. Bromus secalinus, etc. Couch grass. Same as Quick grass (below). Crab grass, (a) Hay, in South. A weed, in North. Panicum sanguinale. (b) Pasture and hay. South. Eleusine Indica. Darnel (a) Bearded, a noxious weed. Lolium temulentum. (b) Common. Same as Rye grass (below). Drop seed, fair for forage and hay. Muhlenbergia, several species. English grass. Same as Redtop (below). Fowl meadow grass. (a) Pasture and hay. Poa serotina. (b) Hay, on moist land. Gryceria nervata. Gama grass, cut fodder. South. Tripsacum dactyloides. Grama grass, grazing. West and Pacific slope. Bouteloua oligostachya, etc. Great bunch grass, pasture and hay. Far West. Festuca scabrella. Guinea grass, hay. South. Panicum jumentorum. Herd's grass, in New England Timothy, in Pennsylvania and South Redtop. Indian grass. Same as Wood grass (below). Italian rye grass, forage and hay. Lolium Italicum. Johnson grass, grazing aud hay. South and Southwest. Sorghum Halepense. Kentucky blue grass, pasture. Poa pratensis. Lyme grass, coarse hay. South. Elymus, several species. Manna grass, pasture and hay. Glyceria, several species. Meadow fescue, pasture and hay. Festuca elatior. Meadow foxtail, pasture, hay, lawn. North. Alopecurus pratensis. Meadow grass, pasture, hay, lawn. Poa, several species. Mesquite, or Muskit grass. Same as Grama grass (above). Nimble Will, a kind of drop seed. Muhlenbergia diffsa. Orchard grass, pasture and hay. Dactylis glomerata. Porcupine grass, troublesome to sheep. Northwest. Stipa spartea. Quaking grass, ornamental. Briza media and maxima. Quitch, or Quick, grass, etc., a weed. Agropyrum repens. Ray grass. Same as Rye grass (below). Redtop, pasture and hay. Agrostis vulgaris. Red-topped buffalo grass, forage. Northwest. Poa tenuifolia. Reed canary grass, of slight value. Phalaris arundinacea. Reed meadow grass, hay. North. Glyceria aquatica. Ribbon grass, a striped leaved form of Reed canary grass. Rye grass, pasture, hay. Lolium perenne, var. Seneca grass, fragrant basket work, etc. North. Hierochloa borealis. Sesame grass. Same as Gama grass (above). Sheep's fescue, sheep pasture, native in Northern Europe and Asia. Festuca ovina. Small reed grass, meadow pasture and hay. North. Deyeuxia Canadensis. Spear grass, Same as Meadow grass (above). Squirrel-tail grass, troublesome to animals. Seacoast and Northwest. Hordeum jubatum. Switch grass, hay, cut young. Panicum virgatum. Timothy, cut young, the best of hay. North. Phleum pratense. Velvet grass, hay on poor soil. South. Holcus lanatus. Vernal grass, pasture, hay, lawn. Anthoxanthum odoratum. Wire grass, valuable in pastures. Poa compressa. Wood grass, Indian grass, hay. Chrysopogon nutans.

Note: Many plants are popularly called grasses which are not true grasses botanically considered, such as black grass, goose grass, star grass, etc.

Black grass, a kind of small rush (Juncus Gerardi), growing in salt marshes, used for making salt hay.

Grass of the Andes, an oat grass, the Arrhenatherum avenaceum of Europe.

Grass of Parnassus, a plant of the genus Parnassia growing in wet ground. The European species is P. palustris; in the United States there are several species.

Grass bass (Zo["o]l.), the calico bass.

Grass bird, the dunlin.

Grass cloth, a cloth woven from the tough fibers of the grass-cloth plant.

Grass-cloth plant, a perennial herb of the Nettle family (B[oe]hmeria nivea or Urtica nivea), which grows in Sumatra, China, and Assam, whose inner bark has fine and strong fibers suited for textile purposes.

Grass finch. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A common American sparrow (Po["o]c[ae]tes gramineus); -- called also vesper sparrow and bay-winged bunting. (b) Any Australian finch, of the genus Po["e]phila, of which several species are known.

Grass lamb, a lamb suckled by a dam running on pasture land and giving rich milk.

Grass land, land kept in grass and not tilled.

Grass moth (Zo["o]l.), one of many small moths of the genus Crambus, found in grass.

Grass oil, a fragrant essential volatile oil, obtained in India from grasses of the genus Andropogon, etc.; -- used in perfumery under the name of citronella, ginger grass oil, lemon grass oil, essence of verbena etc.

Grass owl (Zo["o]l.), a South African owl (Strix Capensis).

Grass parrakeet (Zo["o]l.), any of several species of Australian parrots, of the genus Euphemia; -- also applied to the zebra parrakeet.

Grass plover (Zo["o]l.), the upland or field plover.

Grass poly (Bot.), a species of willowwort (Lythrum Hyssopifolia). --Johnson.

Crass quit (Zo["o]l.), one of several tropical American finches of the genus Euetheia. The males have most of the head and chest black and often marked with yellow.

Grass snake. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The common English, or ringed, snake (Tropidonotus natrix). (b) The common green snake of the Northern United States. See Green snake, under Green.

Grass snipe (Zo["o]l.), the pectoral sandpiper (Tringa maculata); -- called also jacksnipe in America.

Grass spider (Zo["o]l.), a common spider (Agelena n[ae]via), which spins flat webs on grass, conspicuous when covered with dew.

Grass sponge (Zo["o]l.), an inferior kind of commercial sponge from Florida and the Bahamas.

Grass table. (Arch.) See Earth table, under Earth.

Grass vetch (Bot.), a vetch (Lathyrus Nissolia), with narrow grasslike leaves.

Grass widow. [Cf. Prov. R. an unmarried mother, G. strohwittwe a mock widow, Sw. gr["a]senka a grass widow.] (a) An unmarried woman who is a mother. [Obs.] (b) A woman separated from her husband by abandonment or prolonged absence; a woman living apart from her husband. [Slang.]

Grass wrack (Bot.) eelgrass.

To bring to grass (Mining.), to raise, as ore, to the surface of the ground.

To put to grass, To put out to grass, to put out to graze a season, as cattle.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Grass

Grass\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Grassed; p. pr. & vb. n. Grassing.]

1. To cover with grass or with turf.

2. To expose, as flax, on the grass for bleaching, etc.

3. To bring to the grass or ground; to land; as, to grass a fish. [Colloq.]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Grass

Grass\, v. i. To produce grass. [R.] --Tusser.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Grass

(1.) Heb. hatsir, ripe grass fit for mowing (1 Kings 18:5; Job 40:15; Ps. 104:14). As the herbage rapidly fades under the scorching sun, it is used as an image of the brevity of human life (Isa. 40:6, 7; Ps. 90:5). In Num. 11:5 this word is rendered "leeks." (2.) Heb. deshe', green grass (Gen. 1:11, 12; Isa. 66:14; Deut. 32:2). "The sickly and forced blades of grass which spring up on the flat plastered roofs of houses in the East are used as an emblem of speedy destruction, because they are small and weak, and because, under the scorching rays of the sun, they soon wither away" (2 Kings 19:26; Ps. 129:6; Isa. 37:27). The dry stalks of grass were often used as fuel for the oven (Matt. 6:30; 13:30; Luke 12:28).

American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This

GRASS Geographic Resources Analysis Support System