herb
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: hû(r)b
ipa: /hɜːb/
note: h
enpr: ûrb
ipa: /(h)ɝb/
other: /h/
other: /h/
other: /h/
other: /h/
other: /h/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)b
homophone: Herb (for the pronunciation /hɜː(ɹ)b/)
Forms: form: herbs
Etymology: From Middle English herbe, erbe, from Old French erbe (French herbe), from Latin herba. Initial h was restored to the spelling in the 15th century on the basis of Latin, but it remained mute until the 19th century and still is for many speakers. Doublet of yerba.
Senses: glosses: Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavour or season food.
examples: text: If any medicinal herbs used by witches were supposedly evil, then how come people from at least the past benefited from the healing properties of such herbs?
text: For twenty-five years he has done all sorts of odd jobs: digging ginseng (a herb) in the Long White Mountains, fishing in the Black River, and washing gold dust at Hailanpao. Without this education, he would never have become an undaunted revolutionary.
ref: 1973, Joe C. Huang, “The Formative Years - The Village”, in Heroes and Villains in Communist China: The Contemporary Chinese Novel as a Reflection of Life, New York: Pica Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 33:
glosses: A plant whose roots, leaves or seeds, etc. are used in medicine.
examples: text: The room was thick and sour with the smell of herb.
ref: 1981 February 14, Andrea Loewenstein, “Voices in the Night”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 29, page 8:
text: You think he's got any herb?
ref: 1995, Harmony Korine, Kids, spoken by Casper:
synonyms: word: grass
word: weed
word: bhang
word: benj
word: boo
word: broccoli
word: bud
word: buddha
word: cannabis
word: cheeba
word: choof
word: daccha
word: dank
word: devil's lettuce
word: djamba
word: doja
word: doobage
word: dope
word: endo
word: gage
word: ganja
word: ganj
word: grass
word: green
word: greenery
word: hash
word: hashish
word: hemp
word: herb
word: Mary Jane
word: MJ
word: marihoochie
word: marijuana
word: Mary Joanna
word: method
word: mezz
word: muggle
word: mull
word: pot
word: puff
word: reefer
word: sens
word: sensimillia
word: sensimilla
word: shit
word: sweetleaf
word: tea
word: Texas tea
word: trees
word: twig
word: wacky tobaccy
word: weed
word: yarndie
word: zaza
word: zombie
glosses: Cannabis.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season
examples: text: flocks grazing the tender herb
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
glosses: Grass; herbage.
examples: text: George (AO) describes the tie between fighting and respect: 'Cause some people could come up to you and say, “Ah, he's a herb, he can't fight. He's nothing.”
ref: 2008, Maryann Dickar, Corridor Cultures: Mapping Student Resistance at an Urban School, page 88:
glosses: (always with pronounced /h/) A lame or uncool person.
Derived terms: African dream herb
cowherb
death's herb
devil's herb
fuller's herb
herbarian
herb bennet
herb box
herb butter
herb Christopher
herbed
herb Gerard
herbiferous
herbish
herbist
herb knife
herbland
herbless
herblike
herblore
herbmaster
herbmistress
herb of grace
herb of repentance
herb of the cross
herbology
herbous
herb paris
herb-paris
herb Peter
herb Robert
herbs and spices
herb tea
herb trinity
herb twopence
herbwoman
megaherb
multiherb
paleoherb
potherb
rice paddy herb
strewing herb
superherb
willowherb
willow herb
Related terms: arbour
herbaceous
herbage
herbal
herbarium
herbicidal
herbicide
herbivore
herbivorous
herbed up
herblet
pseudoherb