cabbage

An edible plant (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) having a head of green leaves.

Noun

  1. An edible plant (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) having a head of green leaves.
    • In aphrodisiac preparation, wild cabbage was frequently an ingredient. - 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 53:

    1. (by extension) Any of various cultivars of the species Brassica oleracea.

  2. The leaves of this plant eaten as a vegetable.
    • Cabbage is good for you.
  3. A person with severely reduced mental capacities due to brain damage.
    • After the car crash, he became a cabbage.
  4. Used as a term of endearment.
    • If you deceive me, Yasha, I don't know if my nerves could stand it. YASHA (kissing her) My little cabbage! Of course, a girl must know her place. - 2009, Tom Stoppard, Helen Rappaport, The Cherry Orchard, translation of...
  5. Money.
  6. Marijuana leaf, the part that is not smoked but from which cannabutter can be extracted.
  7. A terminal bud of certain palm trees, used for food.
  8. A cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto), a palm of the southeastern US coasts and nearby islands.
  9. A human head.
    • American made choppas / You beefin', we split ya cabbage - 2024, “Cult Status”, performed by JPEGMAFIA:

Origin

Etymology tree Old French caboce Anglo-Norman cabochebor. Middle English caboche English cabbage From Middle English caboche, cabage (“cabbage”; “a certain fish”), a borrowing from Anglo-Norman caboche (“head”), a northern variant of caboce, of uncertain origin. Some authorities derive it from Latin caput (“head”), others from ca- (said to be an expressive prefix) + boce (“hump; bump”) (whence English boss).

Forms

cabbages

Synonyms

cabbage plant cole greens person with severely reduced mental capacities due to brain damage

Derived

bacon and cabbage beach cabbage cabbage aphid cabbageball cabbage-bark cabbage butterfly cabbage fly cabbage gum cabbagehead cabbage head cabbage-head cabbageless cabbage lettuce cabbagelike cabbage looper cabbage moth cabbage on a stick cabbage palm cabbage patch cabbage roll cabbage root fly cabbage rose cabbage salad Cabbagetown

Noun slang, uncountable

  1. Scraps of cloth which are left after a garment has been cut out, which tailors traditionally kept.

Origin

Unclear. Perhaps from Dutch *kabbassen, from Old French cabasser (“put into a basket”), from cabas. Alternatively, perhaps from an earlier word *carbage (“shred”), a potential variant of *garbage (“wheat straw”).

Verb Entry 3

  1. To form a head like that of the cabbage.
    • to make lettuce cabbage
  2. To do nothing; to idle; veg out.
    • How effective the project was is a moot point, because there were never any studies carried out to see whether children benefited from cabbaging in front of the TV rather than interacting with a teacher. - 2006, Steve...
  3. To be killed or murdered, such as by being shot in the head.

Forms

cabbages cabbaging cabbaged

Related

brassica broccoflower broccoli broccolini Brussels sprouts cabbage tree carbage cauliflower Chinese cabbage Chinese broccoli Chinese kale collard greens kale kohlrabi sauerkraut red cabbage

Verb Entry 4

  1. To embezzle or purloin; to pilfer, to steal.
    • [Y]our Butler purloins your Liquor, and your Brevver ſells your Hogvvaſh; […] your Taylor, inſtead of Shreds, cabages vvhole Yards of Cloth; […] - 1733, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], Alexander Pope,...
    • We toted in the wood and got the fire going nice and comfortable. Lord James still set in one of the chairs and Applegate had cabbaged the other and was hugging the stove. - 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII,...

Forms

cabbages cabbaging cabbaged