cabbaged

"Cabbaged" is the past form of the informal British verb "to cabbage", which historically meant to pilfer or appropriate something, especially small items or leftovers. A worker might say their sandwich was cabbaged from the communal fridge, meaning it was quietly taken by someone else. The word carries a light, jocular register rather than serious criminal connotation — it suggests petty theft of odds and ends, not burglary. More recently, "cabbaged" has also come to be used colloquially to mean utterly exhausted, as though one's energy has been used up like leftover scraps. Both senses remain firmly informal and chiefly British, making the word a colourful, characterful alternative to plainer words such as "tired" or "taken".

Past tense of "cabbage": to have stolen or appropriated something small or unattended, especially food or odds and ends. In modern informal usage it can also describe feeling utterly exhausted.

Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.

Etymology of cabbaged

The verb "cabbage" derives from the noun "cabbage", which entered English in the Middle Ages via Old French "caboce" (head), ultimately from Latin "caput" (head). By the seventeenth century, tailors used "cabbage" to mean scraps of cloth kept for themselves, and from there it broadened into general slang for appropriating things. "Cabbaged" is simply its past-tense/participle form.

Related word forms

How cabbaged is actually used

Chiefly British and informal; the 'stolen' sense is dated slang, the 'exhausted' sense is colloquial modern usage.

Easily confused with cabbaged

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Words and phrases paired with cabbaged