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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

herb

/(h)ɝb/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:41
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What does herb mean?

noun

  1. A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season.
  2. Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavour or season food.
  3. A plant whose roots, leaves or seeds, etc. are used in medicine.
More meanings (4)

noun

  1. (slang) Cannabis.
  2. (slang) (always with pronounced /h/) A lame or uncool person.
  3. (archaic) Grass; herbage.

proper noun

  1. A diminutive of the male given name Herbert.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/(h)ɝb/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

No flower was nigh, no grass, herb, leaf or weed, But stole his blood and seem’d with him to bleed.
William ShakespeareThe Complete Works of William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg ebook #100
He gathered here and there a herb, or grubbed up a root and put it into the basket on his arm.
Nathaniel HawthorneThe Scarlet LetterProject Gutenberg ebook #33
More book examples (3)
Warm balls of comfort, a thousand sheep feed on the hillside, turning herb and green growing things into food and wool.
Robert S. (Robert Sproul) CarrollOur Nervous Friends — Illustrating the Mastery of NervousnessProject Gutenberg ebook #5994
We found an herb growing upon the rocks whose fruit was sweet, full of red juice, and the ripe ones were like currants.
Richard HakluytVoyages in Search of the North-West PassageProject Gutenberg ebook #3482
Those plants of whose greenness withered we make herb tea for the sick, serve but a humble use, and are most employed by quacks.
Henry David ThoreauWalden, and On The Duty Of Civil DisobedienceProject Gutenberg ebook #205