"supergrass" meaning in English

See supergrass in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈs(j)uːpə(ɹ)ˌɡɹɑːs/ [Received-Pronunciation] Forms: supergrasses [plural]
Etymology: super- + grass, from grass (“an informer”). Etymology templates: {{prefix|en|super|grass}} super- + grass, {{m|en|grass||an informer}} grass (“an informer”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} supergrass (plural supergrasses)
  1. (UK, slang) An informer providing substantial quantities of information on criminal or terrorist activities to the police. Tags: UK, slang Synonyms: nark, nonce, snout, informant
    Sense id: en-supergrass-en-noun-L6VxXyCt Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms prefixed with super-

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for supergrass meaning in English (2.4kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "super",
        "3": "grass"
      },
      "expansion": "super- + grass",
      "name": "prefix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grass",
        "3": "",
        "4": "an informer"
      },
      "expansion": "grass (“an informer”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "super- + grass, from grass (“an informer”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "supergrasses",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "supergrass (plural supergrasses)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with super-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1979 July 23, Havers, Michael (Attorney-General), “Witnesses (Immunity From Prosecution)”, in Hansard, volume 971, Parliament of the United Kingdom, page 64",
          "text": "I have to tell the hon. and learned Gentleman that I do not know the facts which led to that decision. On the other hand, although it is an unpleasant fact of life, there are now and again occasions on which, in order to achieve convictions against really bad villains, it is necessary to use people who are termed supergrasses.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, D. Walsh, Bloody Sunday and the Rule of Law in Northern Ireland, page 241",
          "text": "In several cases the supergrass spent days in the witness box giving evidence of scores of offences allegedly committed by many individuals over a period of years.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An informer providing substantial quantities of information on criminal or terrorist activities to the police."
      ],
      "id": "en-supergrass-en-noun-L6VxXyCt",
      "links": [
        [
          "informer",
          "informer"
        ],
        [
          "providing",
          "provide"
        ],
        [
          "information",
          "information"
        ],
        [
          "criminal",
          "criminal"
        ],
        [
          "terrorist",
          "terrorist"
        ],
        [
          "police",
          "police"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, slang) An informer providing substantial quantities of information on criminal or terrorist activities to the police."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "nark"
        },
        {
          "word": "nonce"
        },
        {
          "word": "snout"
        },
        {
          "word": "informant"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈs(j)uːpə(ɹ)ˌɡɹɑːs/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "supergrass"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "super",
        "3": "grass"
      },
      "expansion": "super- + grass",
      "name": "prefix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grass",
        "3": "",
        "4": "an informer"
      },
      "expansion": "grass (“an informer”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "super- + grass, from grass (“an informer”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "supergrasses",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "supergrass (plural supergrasses)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English 3-syllable words",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English slang",
        "English terms prefixed with super-",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1979 July 23, Havers, Michael (Attorney-General), “Witnesses (Immunity From Prosecution)”, in Hansard, volume 971, Parliament of the United Kingdom, page 64",
          "text": "I have to tell the hon. and learned Gentleman that I do not know the facts which led to that decision. On the other hand, although it is an unpleasant fact of life, there are now and again occasions on which, in order to achieve convictions against really bad villains, it is necessary to use people who are termed supergrasses.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, D. Walsh, Bloody Sunday and the Rule of Law in Northern Ireland, page 241",
          "text": "In several cases the supergrass spent days in the witness box giving evidence of scores of offences allegedly committed by many individuals over a period of years.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An informer providing substantial quantities of information on criminal or terrorist activities to the police."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "informer",
          "informer"
        ],
        [
          "providing",
          "provide"
        ],
        [
          "information",
          "information"
        ],
        [
          "criminal",
          "criminal"
        ],
        [
          "terrorist",
          "terrorist"
        ],
        [
          "police",
          "police"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, slang) An informer providing substantial quantities of information on criminal or terrorist activities to the police."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "nark"
        },
        {
          "word": "nonce"
        },
        {
          "word": "snout"
        },
        {
          "word": "informant"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈs(j)uːpə(ɹ)ˌɡɹɑːs/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "supergrass"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (8203a16 and 304864d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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