Grass (?), n. [OE. gras,
gres, gers, AS, græs, gærs;
akin to OFries. gres, gers, OS., D., G., Icel., &
Goth. gras, Dan. græs, Sw. gräs, 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.
&fist; 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.
&fist; 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)
Buchloë 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 and 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.
&fist; 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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Bœhmeria 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.
(Zoöl.) (a) A common American sparrow
(Poöcætes gramineus); -- called also vesper
sparrow and bay-winged bunting. (b) Any
Australian finch, of the genus Poëphila, 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 (Zoöl.),
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
(Zoöl.), a South African owl (Strix
Capensis). -- Grass parrakeet
(Zoöl.), any of several species of Australian
parrots, of the genus Euphemia; -- also applied to the zebra
parrakeet. -- Grass plover
(Zoöl.), the upland or field plover. --
Grass poly (Bot.), a species of
willowwort (Lythrum Hyssopifolia). Johnson. --
Crass quit (Zoöl.), 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. (Zoöl.)
(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
(Zoöl.), the pectoral sandpiper (Tringa
maculata); -- called also jacksnipe in America. --
Grass spider (Zoöl.), a common
spider (Agelena nævia), which spins flat webs on grass,
conspicuous when covered with dew. -- Grass
sponge (Zoöl.), 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.
gräsenka 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.
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.]
Grass (?), v. i. To produce
grass. [R.] Tusser.
