Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A plant whose stem does not produce woody, persistent tissue and generally dies back at the end of each growing season.
  • noun Any of various often aromatic plants used especially in medicine or as seasoning.
  • noun Slang Marijuana.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavor or season food.
  • noun Plant whose roots, leaves or seeds, etc. are used in medicine.
  • noun slang, euphemistic Marijuana.
  • noun botany A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English herbe, from Old French erbe, from Latin herba.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ultimately from Latin herba.

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Examples

Comments

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  • German for bitter, or dry, in the case of wine

    January 9, 2008

  • With a silent "h" in the States

    January 29, 2008

  • I love pronouncing it the American way. Errrrrrb!

    January 30, 2008

  • ARRRRGH I really really dislike it when people drop the "h" from the word "herb". Sorry, it's just wrong. Americans, guys, you can pronounce your "h", you say "holiday" and "happy without silencing the "h". There are only certain specific words that start with a silent "h" and herb really really is not one of them.

    August 9, 2010

  • Errrrrb!

    August 9, 2010

  • *scans the room for signs of sionnach*

    When the h is important enough to be capitalized, we recognize it. Otherwise it wouldn't be a proper Capitonym, would it?

    August 9, 2010

  • Errrrrrb!

    By the way, speaking of "h," "an historian" drives me batshit. It's "a historian."

    Errrrrrb!

    August 9, 2010

  • Were you looking for Herb?

    August 10, 2010

  • Errrrrrb!

    Oh, excuse me.

    August 14, 2010

  • also, in street slang, a square, doofus, dork, or neb. "That guy is such a herb, he wore his pocket-protector to the club."

    August 25, 2010

  • Cool. What's a pocket-protector?

    August 25, 2010