grass

UK: /ˈgrɑːs/ US: /græs/ ,(gras, gräs)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

grass /græs/   n. 

1. Plant Biology [countable] a plant that has jointed stems and bladelike leaves and is grown for lawns, used as pasture, or cut for hay.
2. Plant Biology such plants thought of as a group:
   [uncountable] Grass won't grow there.
3. grass-covered ground:
   [uncountable] a picnic on the grass.
4. [uncountable] [Slang.] marijuana.

Idioms

5. Idioms let the grass grow under one's feet, to delay action.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

grass  (gras, gräs), n. 

1. Plant Biology any plant of the family Gramineae, having jointed stems, sheathing leaves, and seedlike grains. Cf. grass family.
2. Plant Biology 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.
8. Idioms go to grass, to retire from one's occupation or profession:
   Many executives lack a sense of purpose after they have gone to grass.
9. Idioms let the grass grow under one's feet, to delay action, progress, etc.;
   become slack in one's efforts.

v.t. 

10. to cover with grass or turf.
11. to feed with growing grass;
    pasture.
12. to lay (something) on the grass, as for the purpose of bleaching.

v.i. 

13. to feed on growing grass;
    graze.
14. to produce grass;
    become covered with grass.

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

grass′less, adj. 
grass′like′, adj. 
grass′ward, grass′wards, adv. adj. 

Grass  (gräs; Ger. gräs), n. 

Gün•ter (Wil•helm)  (gŏŏn′tər wil′helm; Ger. gyn′tər vil′helm), born 1927, German novelist, poet, and playwright.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

grass / 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
   Related adjective(s): verdant
3. ground on which such plants grow; a lawn, field, etc
4. ground on which animals are grazed; pasture
5. a slang word for marijuana
6. a person who informs, esp on criminals
7. short for sparrowgrass
8. kick into the long grass ⇒
9. let the grass grow under one's feet ⇒ to squander time or opportunity

verb

1. to cover or become covered with grass
2. to feed or be fed with grass
3. (transitive) to spread (cloth) out on grass for drying or bleaching in the sun
4. (intransitive) usually followed by on: to inform, esp to the police

Etymology: Old English græs; related to Old Norse, Gothic, Old High German gras, Middle High German gruose sap

ˈgrassˌlike adjective