A cabbage is a round vegetable with white, green, or purple leaves that is usually eaten cooked.
2. countable noun [usually singular]
If someone refers to a very sick person or someone with a disability as a cabbage, they are saying in an offensive way that the sick person is so badly brain-damaged or ill that they cannot do anything.
[informal, offensive]
cabbage in British English1
(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
3.
a.
the head of a cabbage
b.
the edible leaf bud of the cabbage palm
4. informal
a dull or unimaginative person
5. informal, offensive
a person with severely impaired mental and physical ability who 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
cabbage in British English2
(ˈkæbɪdʒ) British slang
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
cabbage in American English1
(ˈkæbɪdʒ)
noun
1.
a common vegetable (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) of the crucifer family, with thick leaves formed into a round, compact head on a short, thick stalk: cultivated as early as 2000 b.c.
2.
an edible bud at the end of the branch on some palm trees
3. Slang
paper money
Word origin
ME & OFr caboche, earlier caboce < ?
cabbage in American English2
(ˈkæbɪdʒ)
verb transitive, verb intransitiveWord forms: ˈcabbaged or ˈcabbaging
1. British, Slang, Obsolete
to steal
noun
2. Archaic
cloth snippets appropriated by a tailor when cutting out clothes
Word origin
prob. < Fr cabasser, to put into a basket, steal < cabas, basket < VL *capacium, reed basket
cabbage in Hospitality
(kæbɪdʒ)
noun
(Hospitality (hotel): Food and drink, vegetables)
Cabbage is a round vegetable with white, green, or purple leaves that is usually eaten cooked.
Steam or boil the cabbage until it is tender.
Cook the cabbage in salted water for five minutes.
The beef is served with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes.
a common brownish noctuid moth , Mamestra brassicae, the larva of which is destructive of cabbages and other plants
cabbage palm
a West Indian palm , Roystonea (or Oreodoxa ) oleracea, whose leaf buds are eaten like cabbage
cabbage rose
a rose , Rosa centifolia, with a round compact full-petalled head
cabbage tree
a tree, Cordyline australis , of New Zealand having a tall branchless trunk and a palmlike top
cabbage white
any large white butterfly of the genus Pieris , esp the Eurasian species P. brassicae, the larvae of which feed on the leaves of cabbages and related vegetables: family Pieridae
skunk cabbage
a low-growing fetid aroid swamp plant, Symplocarpus foetidus of E North America , having broad leaves and minute flowers enclosed in a mottled greenish or purple spathe
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
cabbage lettuce
any of several varieties of lettuce that have roundish flattened heads resembling cabbages
Chinese cabbage
a Chinese plant, Brassica pekinensis, that is related to the cabbage and has crisp edible leaves growing in a loose cylindrical head
turnip cabbage
a cultivated variety of cabbage , Brassica oleracea caulorapa (or gongylodes ), whose thickened stem is eaten as a vegetable
cabbage butterfly
a common white butterfly ( Pieris rapae ) whose green larvae feed upon cabbage and related plants
cabbage palmetto
a tropical American fan palm , Sabal palmetto , with edible leaf buds and leaves used in thatching
drumhead cabbage
acommon type of cabbage with tightly packed leaves and a rounded form with a slightly flattened top
sweetheart cabbage
→ another word for hispi
cabbage root fly
a dipterous fly, Erioischia brassicae, whose larvae feed on the roots and stems of cabbages and other brassicas : family Muscidae ( houseflies , etc)
pak-choi cabbage
a Chinese plant, Brassica chinensis, that is related to the cabbage and has edible stalks and leaves
pe-tsai cabbage
a Chinese plant, Brassica pekinensis, that is related to the cabbage and has crisp edible leaves growing in a loose cylindrical head
pompon rose
a rose , Rosa centifolia, with a round compact full-petalled head
Savoy
an area of SE France, bordering on Italy , mainly in the Savoy Alps : a duchy in the late Middle Ages and part of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1720 to 1860, when it became part of France
napa
a type of leather made by tanning sheepskin
diamondback moth
a small moth Plutella xylostella that has diamond-shaped markings on the underside of its front wings that are visible when the wings are folded
large white
a large white butterfly , Pieris brassicae, with scanty black markings , the larvae of which feed on brassica leaves