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cabbage

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cabbage¹

  • /ˈkæbɪd͡ʒ/ Canada, US, UK
  • /ˈkabɪd͡ʒ/ British, Northern England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales
  • /ˈkæbəd͡ʒ/ Australia
  • /ˈkɛbəd͡ʒ/ New Zealand

Sounds like CABG (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -æbɪdʒ

Where it comes from

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).

noun cabbages

  1. countable, uncountable An edible plant (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) having a head of green leaves. In aphrodisiac preparation, wild cabbage was frequently an ingredient.
  2. broadly, countable, uncountable Any of various cultivars of the species Brassica oleracea.
  3. uncountable The leaves of this plant eaten as a vegetable. Cabbage is good for you.
  4. countable, offensive A person with severely reduced mental capacities due to brain damage. After the car crash, he became a cabbage.
  5. countable, uncountable 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.
  6. slang, uncountable Money.
  7. slang, uncountable Marijuana leaf, the part that is not smoked but from which cannabutter can be extracted.
  8. countable, uncountable A terminal bud of certain palm trees, used for food.
  9. countable, uncountable A cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto), a palm of the southeastern US coasts and nearby islands.
  10. countable, slang, uncountable A human head. American made choppas / You beefin', we split ya cabbage
  11. countable, slang, uncountable Synonym of spinach (“thick rough”). That shot left me in the cabbage!

Similar: cabbage plant, cole, person with severely reduced mental capacities due to brain damage

verb cabbages · cabbaging · cabbaged

  1. intransitive To form a head like that of the cabbage. to make lettuce cabbage
  2. intransitive, slang 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.
  3. slang To be killed or murdered, such as by being shot in the head.

cabbage²

  • /ˈkæbɪd͡ʒ/ Canada, US, UK
  • /ˈkabɪd͡ʒ/ British, Northern England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales
  • /ˈkæbəd͡ʒ/ Australia
  • /ˈkɛbəd͡ʒ/ New Zealand

Sounds like CABG (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -æbɪdʒ

Where it comes from

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”).

noun

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

verb cabbages · cabbaging · cabbaged

  1. transitive 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; […]

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