pepper grass

4.8

A small herb with spicy leaves used in salads or as a garnish

noun
/ˈpɛpər ɡræs/

: berro de pimienta

She sprinkled fresh pepper grass over the salad for extra flavor.

Examples

The chef used pepper grass as a garnish to brighten up the dish.
Gardeners often grow pepper grass because it is fast-sprouting and easy to harvest.
I added some pepper grass to my salad for extra flavor.
The pepper grass grows wild in this region.
Gardeners often grow pepper grass because it is fast-sprouting and easy to harvest.
She sprinkled fresh pepper grass over the salad for extra flavor.
The chef used pepper grass as a garnish to brighten up the dish.

Synonyms

garden pepper cress

vspepper grass

7.0

A small plant with spicy leaves used to add flavor to salads and decorate food

is the general simple name for the same edible herb

pepperwort

vspepper grass

9.8

A small herb with peppery leaves used raw in salads

refers more generally to a small edible herb without the genus label

common garden cress

vspepper grass

3.2

A small fast-growing herb with peppery leaves used in salads and as a garnish

covers the same herb type but not limited to a fast growing species

Lepidium sativum

vspepper grass

Specialized

7.9

A small herb with peppery leaves used in salads and as a garnish

uses a broader common term rather than a species name

peppergrass

vspepper grass

6.0

A plant with small peppery leaves often used in salads

focuses on the plant as an edible salad herb rather than a wild plant

Surface Forms

pepper grass singular

pepper grasses plural

Morphology

pepper + grass

This is a straightforward noun–noun compound where the modifier 'pepper' signals a peppery/pungent quality and 'grass' denotes a grass-like/herbaceous plant; together they describe a pungent herb. The compositional pattern is common and the meaning ('a grass/herb with a peppery taste') is directly inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Pepper grass gets its name from two simple images: the leaves look like grass and the taste is sharp like pepper. So today it means 'a small herb with a sharp, peppery flavor' used in salads and as a garnish.