cabbage
cabbage — noun
- cabbagesingular
- cabbagesplural
1. a plant with broad layers of pale-green or purple leaves packed tightly into a r
a plant with broad layers of pale-green or purple leaves packed tightly into a round ball, used in salads, soups, stir-fries, and other cooked dishes
Maeve chopped the green cabbage into thin strips for the coleslaw.
countable as a whole head
Apinya's grandmother fermented cabbage with salt and chili to make kimchi.
cabbage + ferment for traditional dishes
There is too much cabbage in this soup; the recipe said half a head.
Minho stuffed the cabbage leaves with rice and minced pork for dinner.
The market vendor sold both green cabbage and red cabbage for the same price.
- kale
a close relative of cabbage with curly, darker leaves, usually not forming a tight round head
- Brussels sprout
a small, bud-like vegetable from the same plant family, often eaten whole
用法筆記
Cabbage can be countable (a whole head) or uncountable (the vegetable as a food ingredient): I bought two cabbages but I only used a little cabbage for the salad.
常見錯誤
2. a deeply insulting term for someone whose brain has been so badly damaged by a s
a deeply insulting term for someone whose brain has been so badly damaged by a severe injury or disease that they cannot think, speak, or move on their own — never use this word
Walid heard a teenager yell that horrible cabbage insult at a man on the bus.
context showing real-world usage as an insult
The campaign group asked the newspaper never to use cabbage to describe brain-injured patients.
After his crash, a neighbour cruelly called Sivan's uncle a cabbage.
The doctors were shocked when a visitor called the patient in room three a cabbage.
用法筆記
⚠️ EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE — Never use this sense. It is a cruel dehumanising slur against people with severe brain injuries or disabilities. The medical term is 'person in a persistent vegetative state' or simply 'person with a severe brain injury.' Using 'cabbage' for a person is deeply insulting and widely condemned by disability advocacy groups.
常見錯誤
3. an informal old-fashioned word for money, especially cash that you have in your
an informal old-fashioned word for money, especially cash that you have in your pocket or wallet
Joaquín had saved enough cabbage over the summer to buy a second-hand scooter.
saved + cabbage = accumulated cash over time
Eli asked his brother for some cabbage to pay for the cinema tickets.
The old man pulled a wad of cabbage from his pocket and paid in cash.
Lauren needs more cabbage if she wants to rent a flat in the city centre.
用法筆記
This sense is dated and largely confined to British slang from the early-to-mid 20th century. Modern younger speakers rarely use it. Compare with 'dough,' 'bread,' or 'loot' for other informal money terms.
cabbage — verb
- cabbagepresent simple I / you / we / they
- cabbages3rd person singular
- cabbaging-ing form
- cabbagedpast simple
1. to secretly take something that does not belong to you, usually something small
to secretly take something that does not belong to you, usually something small or of moderate value, in a sneaky or dishonest way
Élise noticed someone had cabbaged her umbrella from the stand by the door.
cabbage + object as a transitive verb
The cashier caught a customer trying to cabbage a pack of batteries from the shelf.
Nkechi's little brother cabbaged three biscuits from the jar when no one was looking.
Someone cabbaged my laptop charger during the lunch break at the library.
文法句型
cabbage + object
用法筆記
This is an old-fashioned British slang term, not common in modern American English. It suggests a small, sneaky theft rather than a serious crime. The noun form 'cabbage' meaning 'money' and the verb form may be historically connected — tailors in the 18th–19th centuries kept leftover fabric (called 'cabbage') as a perquisite, which evolved into the idea of taking something dishonestly.