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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
Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Jan. 2025
On the shores of the Pacific Ocean just a couple of miles from the village of Cayucos, California, the heat beat down as visitors wandered through a beach coated in shimmering blankets of seaweed, from bull kelp to sea cabbage.
—Heide Brandes, thehustle.co, 24 Jan. 2025
Southern Collard Greens Recipe Cabbage Use it to add brightness to cabbage dishes.
—Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 20 Jan. 2025
Rice Porridge with pork belly, charred cabbage and togarashi.
—Kayleigh Ruller, Charlotte Observer, 15 Jan. 2025
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 11 Feb. 2025.
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