Word: greenie Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From green + -ie. Environmentalist sense first attested in Australia in 1973, referring to trade unionists who supported green bans. 1. An environmentalist, someone who shows concern for the environment; often aimed at environmental extremists. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand, derogatory, slang Example: People ask me if am I a greenie and I go, ‘No, not in the sense that I chain myself to trees, no I′m not. But in the sense that I am concerned about the environment and do my little bit to help, then yes I am.’ Example: “What′s a greenie doing with a gas hog like that?” 2. A member of the Australian Greens. Labels: Australian, broadly, informal 3. A person from Colorado; after the color of the Colorado license plate. Labels: US, derogatory, slang Example: At Alcova, the problem is compounded for the fool or fools when they have greenie license plates and behave like tourists. The growing combative presence in their rear is chalk full of true Wyoming grit. 4. An unripe fruit. Labels: informal Example: In every kitchen arises the acrid tang of green- tomato pickle, chutney, chili; on every south-facing kitchen windowsill the most promising greenies line up to be coaxed ripe. Example: Mid-August, normally prime berry-picking time, came and went. Still too many greenies. 5. A beginner, a novice; a greenhorn. Labels: US, slang Example: […]“When the teacher says ‘Good Morning,’ you say, ‘Fuck You.’ That′s what you say in America.” Sometimes they varied this with “son of a bitch.” Sure enough the greenie parroted these instructions to the merriment of the classroom. Example: In California a senior companion offered to demonstrate to his new greenie how he succeeded in placing Books of Mormon in people′s houses. The two of them knocked on a door. A woman answered, and the senior companion threw a book past her into the house and then ran, leaving the greenie to stammer out an explanation to the irate woman. 6. A small, green object. Labels: informal Example: He dropped the emerald studs into Abbey's palm and said, “Those little greenies are worth more than diamonds.” 7. A small, green object. Labels: informal, slang 8. A small, green object. Labels: US, informal, slang Example: When Rose broke into major-league baseball, the use of amphetamines, or “greenies” as the players called them, was an aboveboard practice. There were more players who took them than there were who lifted weights. The greenies were frequently dispensed by team trainers. Example: Feeling down? Pop a greenie. Had a rough night? Pop a greenie. Long road trip? Double header? Need a base hit? The answer for it all was the same: pop a greenie. “Greenies were what everyone was doing,” Koch says. 9. Any of various birds having predominantly green plumage. Labels: informal Example: All eye turned to the small jewel of a bird that was sipping nectar from an orange-flowered plant. "A greenie, I think, Rose," said Hilary Fotherington-Thomas, squinting down her binoculars. 10. Any of various birds having predominantly green plumage. Labels: informal Example: In spite of repeated public statements and reminders, school boys and others are continuing to trap `bluies' and `greenies,' particularly in the Brisbane area, the Department of Agriculture and Stock announced to-day. These birds belong to a family more correctly called lorikeets, and as such, under the Fauna Protection Act, they are totally protected throughout Queensland. 11. Any of various birds having predominantly green plumage. Labels: informal 12. Any of various birds having predominantly green plumage. Labels: informal Example: I don't know how many eggs the mother cuckoo laid, but we picked up two young unfledged greenies which were thrown out of the nest by the intruder. 13. An Atlantic thread herring (Opisthonema oglinum), a herring-like fish in the family Clupeidae. Labels: informal Example: In the summer time, live bait is often used almost within throwing distance of the jetties for the kingfish and cobia. Local captains use greenies or threadfin herring primarily and catch them on gold hooks right outside the Stuart inlet. 14. The yellowtail rockfish (Sebastes flavidus), a fish in the family Sebastidae. Labels: informal Example: Depending upon the species, fishers may harvest along the ocean floor for many rockfish and other groundfish, while hake, pollock, and some rockfish species (i.e. greenies and brownies) are targeted with mid-water trawls. 15. Diminutive of greenback. Labels: diminutive, form-of, slang Example: “Come on Lil, catch a greenie,” I say. In between wipe-outs, Lily is having a great time too, occasionally catching waves all the way into the beach. 16. The player whose ball is closest to the hole on a par-3 hole after the first shot (drive), in the case when multiple players reach the green on that first shot and the player with the closest ball sinks the ball within the next two shots. 17. A Green Beret. Labels: US, slang 18. A green glass bottle of Heineken beer. Labels: US, slang