Grass

(6), n. [A-S. grās, gārs, gears, O. Fries. gres, gers, Goth., O. Sax., D., Icel., & Ger. gras, Dan. & Sw. grās, Prov. Eng. gars, gorse, Scot. girs, D. gras, gars, ghers, gors. Cf. GORSE, and Lat. gramen, grass, Skr. gras, to devour, and Gr. γρᾶειν, γραίνειν, to gnaw, eat.]

1Sense 1. Herbage; the plants which constitute the food of cattle and other beasts.

2Sense 2. (Bot.) An endogenous plant having simple leaves, a stem generally jointed and tubular, a husky calyx, called glume, and the seed single.

☞— This definition includes wheat, rye, oats, barley, &c., and excludes clover and some other plants which are commonly called by the name of grass. The grasses form a numerous family of plants.

Grass of the Andes, an oat grass, the Arrhenatherium 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 two species, P. Carolina and P. asarifolia.