greenie

Noun

greenie (plural greenies)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, derogatory, slang) An environmentalist, someone who shows concern for the environment; often aimed at environmental extremists.
   • 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.’2000, Australian Association for Environmental Education, Australian Journal of Environmental Education, volumes 15-17, page 73
   • “What′s a greenie doing with a gas hog like that?”2008, Adeline Catherine Anderson, Morning Light, page 83

   Synonyms:

   tree hugger

2. (Australian, broadly, informal) A member of the Australian Greens.
3. (US, derogatory, slang, Wyoming) A person from Colorado; after the color of the Colorado license plate.
   • 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.2007, James Prosek, Joseph Furia, Steven Hayhurst, Joseph Kingsbery, Tight Lines: Ten Years of the Yale Anglers′ Journal, page 140
4. (informal) An unripe fruit.
   • 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.1987, Maxine Kumin, In deep: country essays, page 98
   • Mid-August, normally prime berry-picking time, came and went. Still too many greenies.1995, Michigan Out-of-doors, volume 49, page 239
5. (US, slang) A beginner, a novice; a greenhorn.
   • […]“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.1969, Harry Golden, The Right Time: An Autobiography, page 45
   • 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...1981, William Albert Wilson, On Being Human: The Folklore of Mormon Missionaries, volumes 60-66, page 9

   Synonyms:

   greenhorn, tyro

6. (informal) A small, green object.
   • He dropped the emerald studs into Abbey's palm and said, “Those little greenies are worth more than diamonds.”2014, Carl Hiaasen, Carl Hiaasen Collection: Hoot, Flush, Scat, Chomp
   1. (informal, slang) A blob of nasal mucus; a bogey.
   2. (US, informal, slang) Amphetamines used in baseball.
      • 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.1992, Michael Sokolove, Hustle: The Myth, Life, and Lies of Pete Rose, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, published 2005, →ISBN, page 78
      • 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.2010, Aaron Skirboll, The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven: How a Ragtag Group of Fans Took the Fall for Major League Baseball, page 36
7. (informal) A green-headed sunbird (Cyanomitra verticalis), of Africa.
   • 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.2008, Nicholas Drayson, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa, page 23
8. (informal) A scaly-breasted lorikeet (Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus), of Australia.
   • 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...1952 February 14, The Cairns Post, Cairns, page 8, column 3
9. (informal) A white-plumed honeyeater (Ptilotula penicillata), of Australia.
10. (informal) A western silvereye (Zosterops lateralis chloronotus), of Western Australia.
    • 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.1896 October 19, The South Australian Register, Adelaide, page 6, column 5
11. (informal) An Atlantic thread herring (Opisthonema oglinum), a herring-like fish in the family Clupeidae.
    • 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.1992, M. Timothy O'Keefe, Larry Larsen, Fish & Dive Florida and the Keys: A Candid Destination Guide (Outdoor Travel Series; 3), Lakeland, FL: Larsen's Outdoor Publishing, →ISBN, page 63
12. (informal) The yellowtail rockfish (Sebastes flavidus), a fish in the family Sebastidae.
    • 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.2007, R. Quentin Grafton, Harry W. Nelson, Bruce Turris, “How to Resolve the Class II Common Property Problem? The Case of British Columbia's Multi-Species Groundfish Trawl Fishery”, in Trond...