I. ˈkabij, -ēj noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English caboche, from Old North French, head, perhaps from boche swelling, bump; akin to Old French boce bump — more at boss
1. : a leafy garden plant ( Brassica oleracea capitata ) derived from a wild European plant ( B. oleracea ) and distinguished by a short stem upon which is crowded a mass of leaves usually green but in some varieties red or purplish forming a dense globular head that is used as a vegetable
2. : a terminal bud of certain palm trees that resembles a head of cabbage and is eaten as a vegetable
3. : cabbage palmetto
cabbage woods
4. slang : paper money or bank notes
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to compress (loose sheet-metal scrap) into a form convenient for handling and remelting
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: perhaps by folk etymology from Middle French cabas cheating, theft, literally, basket — more at caba
Britain : cloth remaining after the cutting out of a garment and traditionally said to be appropriated by the tailor as a perquisite
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
: to take surreptitiously : steal , filch
they also cabbaged our bats, balls, and gloves — H.L.Mencken
intransitive verb
: to take something surreptitiously — sometimes used with onto