What it means
Means a snitch or informer, the kid who tells the teacher, or the mate who rings the cops. To grass someone up is to dob them in. It’s proper loaded, because it screams you can’t be trusted and you’ll get people in trouble. Unless you fancy being iced out, don’t slap this label on someone lightly.
Usage examples
"Who told Miss we were bunking off PE? Bet it was Simon, the little grass, piping up the second detention got mentioned."
"Nobody on the estate would dare grass on him, the wall of silence held for years."
"Turns out the quiet new bloke was a grass, feeding names to the police the whole time."
"Don't bring Jake next time, he's a proper grass and can't keep his mouth shut when teachers start asking questions."
"One whiff of police about and suddenly he's grassing on everyone to save his own skin."
Where it comes from
British underworld slang for an informer, most likely shortened from the rhyming slang grasshopper for copper or shopper, the one who shops you to the police. Tangled up with snake in the grass too. To grass is to inform, and a grass is the lowest of the low in the code of the street.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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