Lettuce
noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An edible plant, Lactuca sativa and its close relatives, having a head of green or purple leaves. countable, uncountable
- 2 leaves of any of various plants of Lactuca sativa wordnet
- 3 The leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable; as a dish often mixed with other ingredients, dressing etc. uncountable
"I’ll have a ham sandwich with lettuce and tomato."
- 4 any of various plants of the genus Lactuca wordnet
- 5 United States paper currency; dollars. US, slang, uncountable
"To steady himself he counts the money left in his wallet. Seventy-three; today was payday. Fingering so much lettuce strengthens his nerves."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 informal terms for money wordnet
- 7 A strong yellow-green color, like that of lettuce (also called lettuce green). countable, uncountable
- 8 Marijuana. slang, uncountable
- 9 Long, curly hair, as worn by followers of bro culture. slang, uncountable
Example
More examples"In Korea, there's a popular theory that says that: "If you eat a quarter of an Iceberg lettuce, you will fall asleep". Thus, amongst truck drivers in Korea, lettuce is known as something that should not be eaten before work."
Etymology
From Middle English letuse, of uncertain precise origin, probably from the plural form Old French laitues, derived from Latin lactūca (“lettuce”), from lac (“milk”), because of the milky fluid in its stalks. Replaced Old English lēahtric. (money): Likely from the green color of US banknotes.
Related phrases
More for "lettuce"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.