🌾 A roadside weed 🥤 A health food

barley grass

3.9

Young green leaves of the barley plant used as a health food such as powder or juice

noun
/ˈbɑrli ɡræs/

: hierba de cebada

She began taking a teaspoon of barley grass daily to boost her iron and vitamin intake.

Examples

Many health stores sell organic barley grass powder for adding to smoothies each morning.
The recipe called for fresh barley grass juice stirred into the salad dressing before serving.
I drink barley grass juice every morning.
She prefers barley grasses over wheat for her smoothies.
Many health stores sell organic barley grass powder that can be added to smoothies for a nutrient boost.
She started taking a daily teaspoon of barley grass to enhance her overall health and increase her vitamin intake.
The fresh barley grass juice was the key ingredient that added flavor to the salad dressing.

Synonyms

wheatgrass

vsbarley grass

9 5.3

Young green shoots of the wheat plant used in juice or powder

is the young green leaves of a different cereal plant used as a supplement

Surface Forms

barley grass singular

barley grasses plural

Morphology

barley + grass

The meaning ('young green leaves or processed forms of the barley plant') is a straightforward composition of 'barley' (the cereal plant) and 'grass' (the green, narrow-leaved parts), so the phrase signals the grassy part of the barley plant or its products. This noun–noun compound follows regular English compounding patterns and is conceptually transparent and likely understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

The name barley grass comes from the young green leaves of the barley plant that people used to eat or drink. Because those leaves were dried or juiced as a 'health supplement', the term now means the fresh 'young leaves' or the powder, juice, and tablets made from them.