dent corn

American  

noun

1. a variety of field corn, Zea mays indentata, having yellow or white kernels that become indented as they ripen.

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Etymology

Origin of dent corn

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Polenta is made from flint corn, which is coarser and holds a firmer texture, while grits are made from dent corn, which produces a finer consistency.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 10, 2023

I turned south at the farm town of Delta onto Route 348, a shoulder-less two-lane road lined with irrigation ditches and dent corn still hanging crisp on their browned stalks.

From Salon • Dec. 23, 2022

Across the hemisphere, heirloom lines of corn have dwindled or died out as more productive but far less flavorful dent corn strains came into favor, particularly on large-scale farms.

From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2021

Number three was Cocke’s Prolific dent corn, bred by a friend of Thomas Jefferson, John Hartwell Cocke, on his plantation in central Virginia.

From Washington Post • Nov. 25, 2019

The New England tribes had flint corn, flour corn, and sweet corn, and pop corn, but not dent corn.

From A Book Written by the Spirits of the So-Called Dead by Helleberg, C. G. (Carl Gustaf)