(a) Grass, herbage in general; ~ bitere, name of the hare; ~ rote, grass roots, ground level; gret (muchel) ~, tall, coarse grass; smal ~, short grass; (b) grass as food for cattle, pasture; to ~, to pasture; ~ croft, ~ toun [OE gærs-tūn], an enclosed piece of grassland; ~ font, a grass plot, grassy hollow; ~ man, some kind of tenant of a manor, ?a grazier, ?a cottager; ~ men-lond, land held by such tenants; ~ time, pasture time, summer time; fig. youth; (c) in manorial rents: ~ aker, a plowing service performed in return for pasture rights; also, sowing service [quot.: c1290]; ~ bene, a service in return for pasture [ ? = ~ erthe]; ~ erthe, -herthe, -hert, -hurde, -hurthe [cp. WS gærs-irþ], a plowing service performed as rent for pasture; ~ silver, a money rent for pasture; ~ takes, rent for pasturing hogs; (d) dry grass, hay; ~ mongere, a dealer in hay.

(a) A plant, herb; (b) a plant or herb of healing or magical power; ~ garth, herb garden; ~ spredere, one who plants herbs, a botanist; (c) evetes ~, buck's horn plantain Plantago coronopus; five-leved ~, cinquefoil Potentilla reptans; four-leved ~, herb Paris, ?four-leaved clover; honisukel ~, red clover; naddre ~, probably bistort Polygonum bistorta, also known as snakeweed or snakegrass [see OED s.v. adder's grass, n., and further examples in MED under naddre n.]; swines ~, knotgrass Polygonum aviculare; also, buck's horn Senebiera procumbens; thre-leved ~, clover; treu love ~, herb Paris, or four-leaved clover. [See also shave ~, shere ~.]

(a) The blade of a plant; not a ~, not a bit, not at all; yeven a ~, to give a hoot; ~ spir, blade of grass; (b) in (on) ~, at the blade stage of growth, not mature.

(a) The earth covered with grass; gnauen ~, to bite the dust, fall dead; under ~, under grasses, under the earth, in the grave; ~ bed, grassy couch, the earth; ~ table, plinth, course of stonework at ground level; (b) a patch of grassland, uncultivated field; ~ toft, grass field, unplowed field.

In surnames and place names.