# cabbage

/ˈkæbədʒ/ (US) · /kˈæbɪdʒ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/cabbage
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. the vegetable

noun · CEFR A2

a large, round vegetable with many green, white, or purple leaves that you can eat raw or cooked.

For teachers: a cultivated plant of the species Brassica oleracea, characterized by a dense head of edible leaves.

- She chopped up a fresh cabbage to make a crunchy salad for dinner.
- The traditional recipe calls for red cabbage braised slowly with vinegar and apples to balance the richness of the roast pork.

### 2. money

noun · CEFR C1 · Slang · American English

a slang word for paper money.

For teachers: a slang term for paper currency, likely derived from the green color of US banknotes.

- He made a lot of cabbage working overtime at the construction site.
- In the local underworld, having enough cabbage was the only way to ensure loyalty among the lower-level associates.

### 3. to relax or do nothing

verb · CEFR C1 · Informal · British English

to spend time doing nothing or resting in a lazy way.

For teachers: to spend time in a state of physical or mental inactivity; to idle.

- After a long week at work, I just want to cabbage in front of the TV.
- Rather than exploring the city, the exhausted tourists spent the entire afternoon cabbaging in the hotel lounge.

### 4. to steal

verb · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Informal

to steal small things, especially pieces of cloth or materials.

For teachers: to pilfer or purloin, historically used in reference to tailors keeping scraps of cloth for themselves.

- The old stories tell of tailors who would cabbage enough silk to make their own clothes.
- The apprentice was warned that any attempt to cabbage the expensive velvet would result in immediate dismissal from the workshop.

## Examples

- I chopped the cabbage for the soup.
- She added shredded cabbage to the stir-fry for extra crunch and vitamins.
- The fermented cabbage, known as sauerkraut, has been a staple in European cuisine for centuries due to its long shelf life.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.