Cabbage is a round, leafy vegetable with tightly packed layers of thick leaves, usually green or purple. If you've ever pulled apart the layers of a cabbage, you know how they wrap around each other like nested bowls, getting smaller and tighter toward the center.

People have grown cabbage for thousands of years, and it appears in cuisines around the world. Germans turn it into tangy sauerkraut, Koreans make spicy kimchi, and Americans pile it into coleslaw for summer barbecues. Cabbage can be eaten raw in salads, cooked until tender in soups and stews, or fermented to preserve it through long winters. It thrives in cool weather and stores well, which made it especially valuable before refrigeration existed.

The word cabbage can also be slang for money, though this usage is much less common today. And if someone says an idea or plan turned to cabbage, they mean it fell apart or became worthless, like vegetables left too long in the heat.