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It is not only important, but, in a degree necessary, that the people of this country, should have an American Dictionary of the English language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England, and it is desirable to perpetuate that sameness, yet some differences must exist. Language is the expression of ideas; and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas, they cannot retain an identity of language. |
CABBAGE, n. A genus of plants, called in botany Brassica, of several species; some of which are cultivated for food. The leaves are large and fleshy, the pods long and slender, and the seeds globular. The kinds most cultivated are the common cabbage, called with us the drum-head, the Savoy, the broccoli, the cauliflower, the sugar-loaf, and the cole-wort.
An esculent vegetable of many varieties,
derived from the wild Brassica oleracea of Europe. The
common cabbage has a compact head of leaves. The cauliflower,
Brussels sprouts, etc., are sometimes classed as
cabbages.
The terminal bud of certain palm
trees, used, like, cabbage, for food. See Cabbage tree,
below.
The cabbage palmetto. See
below.
Cabbage aphis (Zoöl.), a
green plant-louse (Aphis brassicæ) which lives upon
the leaves of the cabbage. -- Cabbage
beetle (Zoöl.), a small, striped flea-
beetle (Phyllotreta vittata) which lives, in the larval
state, on the roots, and when adult, on the leaves, of cabbage
and other cruciferous plants. -- Cabbage
butterfly (Zoöl.), a white butterfly
(Pieris rapæ of both Europe and America, and the
allied P. oleracea, a native American species) which, in
the larval state, devours the leaves of the cabbage and the
turnip. See Cabbage worm, below. -- Cabbage
fly (Zoöl.), a small two-winged fly
(Anthomyia brassicæ), which feeds, in the larval or
maggot state, on the roots of the cabbage, often doing much
damage to the crop. -- Cabbage head,
the compact head formed by the leaves of a cabbage; --
contemptuously or humorously, and colloquially, a very stupid and
silly person; a numskull. -- Cabbage
palmetto, a species of palm tree (Sabal
Palmetto) found along the coast from North Carolina to
Florida. -- Cabbage rose (Bot.),
a species of rose (Rosa centifolia) having large and
heavy blossoms. -- Cabbage tree,
Cabbage palm, a name given to palms having
a terminal bud called a cabbage, as the Sabal
Palmetto of the United States, and the Euterpe
oleracea and Oreodoxa oleracea of the West
Indies. -- Cabbage worm
(Zoöl.), the larva of several species of moths
and butterflies, which attacks cabbages. The most common is
usually the larva of a white butterfly. See Cabbage
butterfly, above. The cabbage cutworms, which eat off the
stalks of young plants during the night, are the larvæ of
several species of moths, of the genus Agrotis. See
Cutworm. -- Sea
cabbage.(Bot.) To form a head
like that the cabbage; as, to make lettuce cabbage.
Johnson. To purloin or
embezzle, as the pieces of cloth remaining after cutting out a
garment; to pilfer.
Your tailor . . . cabbages whole yards of
cloth. Cloth or
clippings cabbaged or purloined by one who cuts out
garments.
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