Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several forms of a vegetable (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) of the mustard family, having a globose head consisting of a short stem and tightly overlapping green to purplish leaves.
  • noun Any of several similar or related plants, such as Chinese cabbage.
  • noun The terminal bud of several species of palm, eaten as a vegetable.
  • noun Slang Money, especially in the form of bills.
  • noun Informal Sweetheart; dear. Used as a term of endearment.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To form a head like that of a cabbage in growing: as, a plant cabbages.
  • noun A variety of Brassica oleracea in which the thick, rounded, and strongly veined leaves are crowded in a large compact head upon a short, stout stem. See Brassica.
  • noun The large terminal bud of some kinds of palms, as the cabbage-palm.
  • To grow to a head: said of the horns of a deer.
  • noun The part of a deer's head wherein the horns are set.
  • noun A part of a head-dress worn by women in the eighteenth century, described as a roll at the back of the head.
  • noun See gall-weevil, etc.
  • noun Anything filched; specifically, cloth purloined by a tailor who makes garments from material supplied by his customers.
  • To crib or appropriate dishonestly; use surreptitiously; cab.
  • noun A cab or crib, used surreptitiously by a school-boy in preparing his lessons or writing his exercises.
  • To purloin; specifically, to keep possession of part of a customer's cloth from which a garment has been made.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To form a head like that the cabbage.
  • intransitive verb To purloin or embezzle, as the pieces of cloth remaining after cutting out a garment; to pilfer.
  • noun Cloth or clippings cabbaged or purloined by one who cuts out garments.
  • noun (Bot.) An esculent vegetable of many varieties, derived from the wild Brassica oleracea of Europe. The common cabbage has a compact head of leaves. The cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc., are sometimes classed as cabbages.
  • noun The terminal bud of certain palm trees, used, like, cabbage, for food. See Cabbage tree, below.
  • noun The cabbage palmetto. See below.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a green plant-louse (Aphis brassicæ) which lives upon the leaves of the cabbage.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a small, striped flea-beetle (Phyllotreta vittata) which lives, in the larval state, on the roots, and when adult, on the leaves, of cabbage and other cruciferous plants.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a small two-winged fly (Anthomyia brassicæ), which feeds, in the larval or maggot state, on the roots of the cabbage, often doing much damage to the crop.
  • noun the compact head formed by the leaves of a cabbage; -- contemptuously or humorously, and colloquially, a very stupid and silly person; a numskull.
  • noun a species of palm tree (Sabal Palmetto) found along the coast from North Carolina to Florida.
  • noun (Bot.) a species of rose (Rosa centifolia) having large and heavy blossoms.
  • noun a name given to palms having a terminal bud called a cabbage, as the Sabal Palmetto of the United States, and the Euterpe oleracea and Oreodoxa oleracea of the West Indies.
  • noun (Bot.) The original Plant (Brassica oleracea), from which the cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc., have been derived by cultivation.
  • noun See Brussels sprouts.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An edible plant (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) having a head of green leaves.
  • noun uncountable The leaves of this plant eaten as a vegetable.
  • noun countable, offensive A person with severely reduced mental capacities due to brain damage.
  • noun Used as a term of endearment.
  • noun uncountable, slang Cloth or clippings cabbaged or purloined by one who cuts out garments.
  • noun uncountable, slang Money
  • noun uncountable, slang Marijuana leaf, the part you don't smoke but have to first extract into cannabutter and bake into spacecake to get high off.
  • verb intransitive To form a head like that of the cabbage; as, to make lettuce cabbage.
  • verb intransitive To purloin or embezzle, as the pieces of cloth remaining after cutting out a garment; to pilfer.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of various cultivars of the genus Brassica oleracea grown for their edible leaves or flowers
  • noun any of various types of cabbage
  • noun informal terms for money
  • verb make off with belongings of others

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English caboche, from Old North French, head, possibly from alteration of Latin caput; see capital.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman caboche, "head", from the Picard or Norman/Old Northern French dialect of Old French. This in turn is a variant of the Old French caboce, possibly related to boce ("hump, bump"); cf. also Latin caput.

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Examples

  • Well, the plain cabbage is now used up, so tomorrow I go cross town to buy a Savoy and make the raised cabbage pies.

    Muhjadarrah Lindy 2006

  • Napa cabbage is my favorite food, at least some days.

    Sukiyaki at Kappo 2009

  • It tastes really good, though the cabbage is a tad overcooked (I don't mind, since I like cabbage).

    Archive 2006-08-01 2006

  • I am originally Canadian and way up north (about 1500 miles north of the USA/Canadian border) in Ontario, I learned how to cook Skunk cabbage from the indians.

    Page 3 2010

  • I am originally Canadian and way up north (about 1500 miles north of the USA/Canadian border) in Ontario, I learned how to cook Skunk cabbage from the indians.

    Page 3 2010

  • I am originally Canadian and way up north (about 1500 miles north of the USA/Canadian border) in Ontario, I learned how to cook Skunk cabbage from the indians.

    Page 3 2010

  • I am originally Canadian and way up north (about 1500 miles north of the USA/Canadian border) in Ontario, I learned how to cook Skunk cabbage from the indians.

    Page 3 2010

  • I am originally Canadian and way up north (about 1500 miles north of the USA/Canadian border) in Ontario, I learned how to cook Skunk cabbage from the indians.

    Page 3 2010

  • The fish taco was a small white tortilla with some chunks of fish, melted up with cheddar cheese and a side of plain cabbage and tomatoes.

    McCormick & Schmick’s Has NYC’s Best Food Happy Hour Ever | Midtown Lunch - Finding Lunch in the Food Wasteland of NYC's Midtown Manhattan 2010

  • I am originally Canadian and way up north (about 1500 miles north of the USA/Canadian border) in Ontario, I learned how to cook Skunk cabbage from the indians.

    Page 3 2010

Comments

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  • See also brassicaceous.

    September 11, 2008

  • "Verb. 1. To sit around doing little, to be idle. E.g.'It was a great holiday, we just sat around cabbaging, topping up our tans and drinking cocktails.'

    2. To damage, to injure. E.g.'Last year I cabbaged my knee playing football, and it's still not fully recovered.' Northern use?"

    - peevish.co.uk

    September 12, 2008

  • "Boiled cabbage à l'Anglaise is something compared with which steamed coarse newsprint bought from bankrupt Finnish salvage dealers and heated over smoky oil stoves is an exquisite delicacy."

    William Connor (1950) Daily Mirror (England)

    November 2, 2008