herbage

[ ur-bij, hur- ]

noun

1. nonwoody vegetation.
2. the succulent parts, leaves and stems, of herbaceous plants.
3. Law. the right to pasture one's cattle on another's land.
4. British. vegetation grazed by animals; pasturage.

herbage

/ ˈhɜːbɪdʒ /

noun

1. herbaceous plants collectively, esp the edible parts on which cattle, sheep, etc, graze
2. the vegetation of pasture land; pasturage

Other Words From

• herbaged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of herbage¹

1350–1400; Middle English < French; herb, -age

Example Sentences

Evolving to thrive on shifting soils, they compete with other high-altitude herbage by yielding extraordinary seed counts — up to 100,000 per plant.

From New York Times

Trees, herbage, even the soil—all were unfamiliar.

From Literature

Only winter rain can spark the growth of “herbages”, which Jackson says is like “ice cream” for cattle.

From The Guardian

For livestock farmers to raise output, cattle, camel and goat breeds need to be better adapted to heat stress and to tolerate a diet of low-quality herbage during droughts.

From Nature

It turns out the wolves helped repair riverine woodlands not so much by killing deer as by terrifying them, and thus keeping them from lingering lazily riverside, browsing down their favorite herbage.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• grass
• grazing
• meadow