herb

Noun

herb (countable and uncountable, plural herbs)

1. (countable) A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season.
2. (archaic, uncountable) Grass; herbage.
   • flocks grazing the tender herb1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
3. (countable) Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavour or season food.
4. (countable) A plant whose roots, leaves or seeds, etc. are used in medicine.
   • If any medicinal herbs used by witches were supposedly evil, then how come people from at least the past benefited from the healing properties of such herbs?
   • For twenty-five years he has done all sorts of odd jobs: digging ginseng (a herb) in the Long White Mountains, fishing in the Black River, and washing gold dust at Hailanpao. Without this education, he would never have become an undaunted revolutionary.1973, Joe C. Huang, “The Formative Years - The Village”, in Heroes and Villains in Communist China: The Contemporary Chinese Novel as a Reflection of Life, New York: Pica Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC...
5. (slang, uncountable) Cannabis.
   • The room was thick and sour with the smell of herb.1981 February 14, Andrea Loewenstein, “Voices in the Night”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 29, page 8
   • You think he's got any herb?1995, Harmony Korine, Kids, spoken by Casper

   Synonyms:

   grass, weed, bhang, benj, boo, broccoli, bud, buddha, cannabis, cheeba

6. (US, countable, slang) (always with pronounced /h/) A lame or uncool person.
   • George (AO) describes the tie between fighting and respect: 'Cause some people could come up to you and say, “Ah, he's a herb, he can't fight. He's nothing.”2008, Maryann Dickar, Corridor Cultures: Mapping Student Resistance at an Urban School, page 88

Proper noun capitalized: Herb

IPA/hɜː(ɹ)b/

Herb

1. A diminutive of the male given name Herbert.
   • Herb and Greta poured through “name” books and the only name they could agree on was “Rosalie.” Greta told Herb that she didn't want her daughter's name to end in a “lie,” and so they named her Rosalee.2015, Janice Dickson, Herbert Peppard: The Eternal Man, FriesenPress, →ISBN