cabbage1

[kab-ij] /ˈkæb ɪdʒ/
noun
1.
any of several cultivated varieties of a plant, Brassica oleracea capitata, of the mustard family, having a short stem and leaves formed into a compact, edible head.
2.
the head or leaves of this plant, eaten cooked or raw.
3.
Slang. money, especially paper money.
4.
Chiefly British Informal.
  1. a stupid, dull, or spiritless person.
  2. a mentally impaired person who is unable to live independently; vegetable.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English caboche, caboge, cabage head of cabbage < dialectal Old French (Picardy, Normandy) literally, head, noggin, equivalent to ca- formative in expressive words, of uncertain origin + boche; see boss2, botch2
Related forms
cabbagelike, adjective

cabbage2

[kab-ij] /ˈkæb ɪdʒ/
noun
1.
Chiefly British.
  1. cloth scraps that remain after a garment has been cut from a fabric and that by custom the tailor may claim.
  2. Also called cab. such scraps used for reprocessing.
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), cabbaged, cabbaging.
2.
to steal; pilfer:
He cabbaged whole yards of cloth.
Origin
1615-25; earlier carbage shred, piece of cloth, apparently variant of garbage wheat straw chopped small (obsolete sense)
Examples from the web for cabbage
  • After potatoes, perhaps no vegetable has kept more bellies full in more places through winter than cabbage.
  • However, cabbage leaves stuffed with pike-perch in vegetable sauce were canceled from the menu for some reason.
  • The smothered cabbage, speckled with nuggets of garlicky sausage, brought high honor to the vegetable kingdom.
  • Jellyfish species have all kinds of offbeat common names: fried-egg jellies, cabbage heads, big reds.
  • He would bring us tomatoes, and greens and okra and cabbage from that little farm he had right there on eighth avenue.
  • Honestly, find one and compare: stink bugs are to cilantro what skunks are to skunk cabbage.
  • From the underside of a leaf, tiny harlequin cabbage bugs hatch from their hinged egg cases.
  • It is said that no sort of food causes so much thirst as cabbage, especially that called colewort.
  • He who has plenty of butter may put some in his cabbage.
  • He who has plenty of pepper will pepper his cabbage.
British Dictionary definitions for cabbage

cabbage1

/ˈkæbɪdʒ/
noun
1.
Also called cole. any of various cultivated varieties of the plant Brassica oleracea capitata, typically having a short thick stalk and a large head of green or reddish edible leaves: family Brassicaceae (crucifers) See also brassica, savoy Compare skunk cabbage, Chinese cabbage
2.
wild cabbage, a European plant, Brassica oleracea, with broad leaves and a long spike of yellow flowers: the plant from which the cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprout have been bred
3.
  1. the head of a cabbage
  2. the edible leaf bud of the cabbage palm
4.
(informal) a dull or unimaginative person
5.
(informal, offensive) a person who has no mental faculties and is dependent on others for his or her subsistence
Word Origin
C14: from Norman French caboche head; perhaps related to Old French boce hump, bump, Latin caput head

cabbage2

/ˈkæbɪdʒ/
noun
1.
snippets of cloth appropriated by a tailor from a customer's material
verb
2.
to steal; pilfer
Word Origin
C17: of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Old French cabas theft
Word Origin and History for cabbage
n.

mid-15c., caboge, from Middle French caboche "head" (in dialect, "cabbage"), from Old French caboce "head," a diminutive from Latin caput "head" (see capitulum). Introduced to Canada 1541 by Jacques Cartier on his third voyage. First written record of it in U.S. is 1660s.

The decline of "ch" to "j" in the unaccented final syllable parallels the common pronunciation of spinach, sandwich, Greenwich, etc. The comparison of a head of cabbage to the head of a person (usually disparaging to the latter) is at least as old as Old French cabus "(head of) cabbage; nitwit, blockhead," from Italian cappuccio, diminutive of capo.

Slang definitions & phrases for cabbage

cabbage

noun

Money; lettuce: The salad boys in the back room, oiling up the cabbage. And it's big cabbage, too (1900+)

Related Terms

folding money, happy-cabbage