Definition

1. Noun:

   • A common plant with narrow green leaves: A type of plant that covers the ground in fields, lawns, and pastures.
   • An area of land covered with such plants: A lawn or pasture.
   • Marijuana (slang): A street name for the dried leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant.
   • An informer (slang): A person who gives information to the police or authorities about someone else's illegal activities.

2. Verb:

   • To cover land with grass: To sow or plant grass seeds on an area of land.
   • To give secret information about someone (slang): To inform on someone to an authority.
   • To shoot down (a bird): To bring a bird to the ground by shooting it.
   • To spread out (e.g., clothes) on grass: To lay items on grass, often to dry or bleach them.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The grass in the park is very green. (The green plants covering the park's ground are very green.)
  • He was sitting on the grass, reading a book. (He was sitting on the area covered with short green plants.)
  • The police arrested him after an anonymous tip from a grass. (The police arrested him after a secret informer gave information.)

• Verb:

  • They decided to grass the bare patch in their garden. (They decided to plant grass on the empty area in their garden.)
  • He was afraid his friend would grass on him to the teacher. (He was afraid his friend would secretly tell the teacher about his wrongdoing.)
  • The hunter grassed several ducks. (The hunter shot and brought down several ducks.)

Advanced Usage

• "to put/send out to grass": To retire someone or something, often an animal, by sending it to pasture; used figuratively for people.
  • The old car was finally put out to grass. (The old car was finally retired from use.)
• "the grass is always greener on the other side (of the fence)": A proverb meaning other people's situations always seem better than one's own.
  • She wanted to change jobs, but the grass is always greener. (She thought a new job would be better, but that's a common illusion.)

Variants and Related Words

• Grassy (adj): Covered with or resembling grass.
  • The grassy hill was perfect for a picnic.
• Grassland (n): A large open area of country covered with grass.
  • The animals roam the vast grassland.
• Grassroots (adj/n): Relating to the ordinary people in a society or organization.
  • The movement started as a grassroots campaign.

Synonyms

• Noun (plant): Turf, lawn, sod, pasture.
• Verb (inform): Inform (on), betray, snitch (slang), tell (on).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Grass on (someone): To inform the authorities about someone's illegal activities.
  • He grassed on his partners to get a lighter sentence.
• Grass over: To become covered with grass.
  • The old ruins have grassed over with time.

Related Idioms

• "Don't let the grass grow under your feet": Do not delay; act quickly.
  • As soon as he had the idea, he started working—he doesn't let the grass grow under his feet.
• "To be at grass": To be resting or out of work; originally for animals grazing.
  • Since the factory closed, he's been at grass.

Verb

1. give away information about somebody
   • He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam
2. feed with grass
3. cover with grass
4. spread out clothes on the grass to let it dry and bleach
5. cover with grass
   • The owners decided to grass their property
6. shoot down, of birds

Noun

1. street names for marijuana
2. bulky food like grass or hay for browsing or grazing horses or cattle
3. a police informer who implicates many people
4. German writer of novels and poetry and plays (born 1927)
5. narrow-leaved green herbage: grown as lawns; used as pasture for grazing animals; cut and dried as hay