to grass over

3.9

Cover an area of land with short green plants like those on a lawn

phrasal verb
/ɡræs ˈoʊvər/

: cubrir de hierba

After the construction, the workers decided to grass over the disturbed land.

Examples

The abandoned lot was finally grassed over, transforming it into a green space.
The churchyard was walled and grassed over, with yews and cedars.

Fiction book (1998)
Toppled stones, chipped names and dates, stones grassed over completely.

Fiction book (1992)
He used the leftover soil to grass over the bare patches in his yard.

Synonyms

to turf

vsto grass over

1 5.1

To cover the ground with grass and its roots

focuses on general covering not specifically laying rooted layers

to lawn

vsto grass over

1 7.7

To plant grass to make an area for people to walk or play

is broader and not limited to making a neat tended area

to grass

vsto grass over

4.6

To cover an area with short green plants so it looks like a lawn

has identical meaning but is the general simple verb form

to sod

vsto grass over

5.2

To cover ground with a layer of grass and soil

is the general action rather than placing a prepared living mat

How Grassy

to sod

5.2

to grass over

3.9

to sprout

68 2.0

to seed

4 1.3

Surface Forms

grass over infinitive

grass overed past

grass overed past participle

grass overing present participle

grass overs third person singular

Morphology

grass + over

The meaning 'to cover an area with grass' is directly and compositionally derivable from 'grass' (to plant or cover with grass) combined with 'over' (indicating covering/completion). This follows a common verb+particle pattern in English and is cross-linguistically intuitive, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand the MWE.

Etymology

Grass over comes from the simple image of putting grass over bare ground so the soil is hidden and the place looks neat. So it means 'to cover an area with grass', for example after building work or to make a space green.