Part 594

2. Reach of the arms; hence, the power of seizing and holding; as, it was beyond his grasp.

3. Forcible possession; hold.

The whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp.

Shak.

4. Wide-reaching power of intellect to comprehend subjects and hold them under survey.

The foremost minds of the next . . . era were not, in power of grasp, equal to their predecessors.

Z. Taylor.

5. The handle of a sword or of an oar.

Grasp"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being grasped.

Grasp"er (?), n. One who grasps or seizes; one who catches or holds.

Grasp"ing, a. 1. Seizing; embracing; catching.

2. Avaricious; greedy of gain; covetous; close; miserly; as, he is a grasping man. -- Grasp"ing*ly, adv. -- Grasp"ing*ness, n.

Grasp"less, a. Without a grasp; relaxed.

From my graspless hand Drop friendship's precious pearls.

Coleridge.

Grass (?), n. [OE. gras, gres, gers, AS, grÊs, gÊrs; akin to OFries. gres, gers, OS., D., G., Icel., & Goth. gras, Dan. grÊs, Sw. gr‰s, and prob. to E. green, grow. Cf. Graze.] 1. Popularly: Herbage; the plants which constitute the food of cattle and other beasts; pasture.

2. (Bot.) An endogenous plant having simple leaves, a stem generally jointed and tubular, the husks or glumes in pairs, and the seed single.

This definition includes wheat, rye, oats, barley, etc., and excludes clover and some other plants which are commonly called by the name of grass. The grasses form a numerous family of plants.

3. The season of fresh grass; spring. [Colloq.]

Two years old next grass.

Latham.

4. Metaphorically used for what is transitory.

Surely the people is grass.

Is. xl. 7.

The following list includes most of the grasses of the United States of special interest, except cereals. Many of these terms will be found with definitions in the Vocabulary. See Illustrations in Appendix.

Barnyard grass, for hay. South. Panicum Grus- galli.

Bent, pasture and hay. Agrostis, several species.

Bermuda grass, pasture. South. Cynodon Dactylon.