If you’ve just started smoking weed, understanding cannabis slang can be quite a challenge. From the simple terms like “bud” and “tree” to the more complex “dog walker” or “sticky icky’, keeping up with conversation during a smoke sesh can be difficult at first.

To help you get a grasp on stoner lingo, here's a basic guide, including some of the most used cannabis slang. 

Weed terms and cannabis slang (And what they mean)

Dry herb-related slang

If you’ve just started smoking cannabis, you’re most likelysmoking dry herb. Whether smoked from a bowl or rolled into a blunt, the following terms will help you understand conversations about cannabis flower. 

Bud, tree, flower- casual terms for marijuana .

Dank -term used to refer to weed with a strong smell and that produces strong effects.

Loud -another term used to describe marijuana with a strong odor that produces a strong high; can either be used as a noun describing the flower (“smoking that loud”) or an adjective describing the scent (“It’s so loud in here.”) 

Kief - term that describes loose cannabis trichomes that fall off the plant; can also be acquired through sifting.

Hash- A word short for hashish, which is made from concentrated kief.

Sticky Icky - a slang phrase for top-notch cannabis buds that alludes to the sticky quality of trichome-rich premium cannabis.

Blunt- marijuana rolled up in a tobacco leaf or cigar.

Spliff- a marijuana cigarette or a joint rolled with half cannabis and half tobacco.

Pinner- another word for a thinly rolled joint

Dog walker - a small joint meant for a short smoke session, i.e., the time it takes to walk your dog.

Roach- the end of a joint or blunt, similar to the butt of a cigarette.

Terms related to smoking weed

The following terms are related to the act of smoking weed, whether that’s smoking itself or the high afterwards.

Rip- to take a hit of marijuana, particularly a long, big, or dense hit. 

Baked, blazed, blown -terms that refer to being extremely high. 

Toking, toker- to smoke marijuana or tobacco; someone who smokes heavy amounts of weed. 

Chief - another term for smoking marijuana, specifically in a large quantity.

Burn it down, burn one - phrases used to refer to smoking marijuana, i.e., “Let’s go burn one.” 

Firing one up,sparking one up - phrases used to refer to lighting a bowl, joint, or blunt. 

Cheech- to consume every last trace of marijuana plant material in a joint, sometimes to the point of going to great measures to do it; can also refer to being really stoned, i.e., “I’m so Cheeched.” 

Shotgunning- inhaling smoke and then exhaling it into another person's mouth.

Batty- a small pipe that holds only a single hit of a dry herb, another term for aone-hitter pipe. 

Terms for measuring weed

When purchasing weed, it’s helpful to know the basic terms used to reference different amounts. Since cannabis is sold by weight, many of these terms refer to cuts of an ounce of dry cannabis flower. 

Quarter- a quarter of an ounce of marijuana. Cannabis dispensaries offer cannabis in a variety of different weights. These weights are typically grams, eighths, quarters, half-ounces, and ounces.

Cut, eighth- An eighth (⅛) is the shorthand for “one-eighth of an ounce,” or 3.5 grams. 

Half- A half is slang for a 14-gram (or a half-ounce) serving of marijuana.

Dime bag - traditionally a $10 bag of weed.

Dub or dub sack - A $20 purchase of marijuana is sometimes referred to as a "dub" or "dub sack.” 

Zip- A slang term for an ounce of cannabis flower, equal to 28 grams. In states where cannabis is legal, a zip is usually the most an adult without a medical card can purchase in a day.

Concentrate-related slang

As you get further into the realm of cannabis consumption, you might discover a taste for THC concentrate. THC concentrate is oil extracted from the cannabis plant using pressure or a solvent. This concentrate contains high THC levels that range from 40% to over 90%, producing strong highs. 

Dab- a small portion of cannabis oil or concentrate that can be heated and vaporized for consumption. 

Oil rig - also known as a dab rig; used to smoke cannabisconcentrates such as rosin, shatter, butane hash oil (BHO), glass, CO2 oil, and others.Typically made of glass, these rigs can be heated with a torch to produce inhalable THC-rich vapor.

Nail -a titanium or glass section of your dab rig that is heated up with a torch. When wax is placed on the heated nail, it produces vapor.

Banger- a glass attachment for your dab rig to replace your nail. Often made of glass or quartz, bangers come in a variety of shapes and sizes that affect their function. 

Hash oil - a resinous oil extracted from hashish using pressure or a solvent.

Shatter- another term for THC concentrate, specifically of a thin, hard consistency.

Wax- another name forcannabis concentrate, specifically of a softer, more pliable texture. 

Blasting- a common term for solvent-based cannabis extraction. A solvent, such as butane, is pumped through cannabis plant material in a closed-loop system to draw out oils rich interpenes andcannabinoids.

To sum it up

These terms are just the beginning of your cannabis slang dictionary. As you grow and explore different regions, you’ll learn more culture-specific slang from various locations. Meeting and talking to others who smoke weed will help you discover all sorts of silly terms that stoners use.