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Cabbage, Not the Vegetable
Does the "filching" meaning of cabbage bring to mind an image of thieves sneaking out of farm fields with armloads of pilfered produce? If so, you're in for a surprise. This use has nothing to do with the leafy vegetable. It originally referred to the practice among tailors of pocketing part of the cloth given to them to make garments. The verb was cut from the same cloth as an older British noun cabbage, which meant "pieces of cloth left in cutting out garments and traditionally kept by tailors as perquisites." Both of those ethically questionable cabbages probably derived from cabas, the Middle French word for "cheating or theft." The cabbage found in coleslaw, on the other hand, comes from Middle English caboche, which meant "head."
Synonyms
Noun (1)
Examples of cabbage in a Sentence
Emma Phelps, Southern Living, 26 Oct. 2024
More than 40 vegetables are grown commercially in the state, which ranks in the top three on production value of tomato, bell pepper, snap bean, squash, cabbage and cucumber, according to the University of Florida.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2024
Cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts contain indole glucosinolates (also known as glucobrassicins).
—Elizabeth Barnes, Verywell Health, 24 Sep. 2024
This bowl is veggie packed with carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and cabbage, which can all be prepped the day before.
—Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 27 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cabbage 
Dictionary Entries Near cabbage
Cite this Entry
“Cabbage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cabbage. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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