grass

grass
I.
n
1.
herbal cannabis, marihuana.
British smokers traditionally preferred hashish, but began to import more marihuana in the mid-1960s. Grass was the predominant American term and had largely supplanted bush, pot, herb, etc. in British speech by 1970.
► 'They're sayingcannabis drives you crazy, but I can't see that applying to just grass.' (Teenage smoker, London, June 2005)
2.
British
an informer. Originally the expression was 'grasshopper' as rhyming slang for copper; the meaning was then transferred to the 'copper's nark' or informer and by the 1940s grass had become established in the underworld lexicon. By the 1970s the word was also widespread among schoolchildren and others. 'Supergrass' was a journalese elaboration denoting a highly significant informer.
II.
grass (someone up)
vb
British
to inform on or betray (someone) to the police or authorities. The usage was orig-inally to 'grass on someone' or to 'grass to the authorities'. From the 1980s the Lon-don underworld expression to 'grass someone up' has been used, not least among schoolchildren, who had adopted it from TV police dramas and documen-taries. For the etymology see the noun grass.

Contemporary slang . 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Grass — is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Gramineae (Poaceae) are the true grasses and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns (turf). They include some more specialised crops… …   Wikipedia

  • GRASS — GIS …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Grass — oder GRASS bezeichnet: Grass Island, eine zu Südgeorgien gehörige Insel Grass (Kartenspiel), ein Kartenspiel (11496) Grass, einen Asteroiden GRASS GIS, ein Geoinformationssystem Grass (Film), Grass – A Nation’s Battle for Life, Dokumentarfilm von …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • GRASS (G.) — «Enfin l’Allemagne a retrouvé un écrivain de stature internationale»: tel fut l’avis unanime de la critique lorsque parut en 1959 Le Tambour . C’était le premier roman d’un jeune auteur d’une trentaine d’années, connu et apprécié jusqu’alors… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Grass — 〈n.; ; unz.; Drogenszene〉 = Gras (4) [engl.] * * * Grass, das; [engl. grass, eigtl. = Gras, nach den getrockneten Pflanzenteilen] (Jargon): Marihuana. * * * Grạss,   Günter, Schriftsteller und Grafiker, * Danzig 16. 10. 1927; Sohn deutsch… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • grass — ► NOUN 1) vegetation consisting of short plants with long narrow leaves, growing wild or cultivated on lawns and pasture. 2) ground covered with grass. 3) informal cannabis. 4) Brit. informal a police informer. ► VERB 1) cover with grass. 2) …   English terms dictionary

  • grass — [gras, gräs] n. [ME gras < OE gærs, græs, akin to Ger gras < IE * ghrō , GROW] 1. any of various plants of the grass family that are usually used for food, fodder, or grazing and as lawns 2. any grasslike plant of various families having… …   English World dictionary

  • grass|y — «GRAS ee, GRAHS », adjective, grass|i|er, grass|i|est. 1. covered with grass; having much grass: »the grassy carpet of the meadow. 2. of or consisting of grass: »The ph …   Useful english dictionary

  • Grass — Grass, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Grassed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Grassing}.] 1. To cover with grass or with turf. [1913 Webster] 2. To expose, as flax, on the grass for bleaching, etc. [1913 Webster] 3. To bring to the grass or ground; to land; as, to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • grass — O.E. græs, gærs herb, plant, grass, from P.Gmc. grasan (Cf. O.N., O.S., Du., O.H.G., Ger., Goth. gras, Swed. gräs), from PIE *ghros young shoot, sprout, from root *ghre to grow, become green (related to GROW (Cf. grow) and GREEN (Cf …   Etymology dictionary

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