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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."
Examples of cabbage in a Sentence
Erika Hayasaki, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 May 2025
Stir in cabbage, bell pepper, carrots, onions, and jalapeño until evenly coated.
—Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 12 May 2025
Fill cabbage leaves with meat and rice mixture, one at a time, starting with the largest leaves.
—Barbara Ellis, Denver Post, 11 May 2025
To reduce your chances of a fart pas, avoid eating gas-producing foods like beans and cabbage and consuming carbonated drinks before and during flying.
—Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for cabbage
Cite this Entry
“Cabbage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cabbage. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
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