corn
noun
a tall cereal plant, Zea mays, cultivated in many varieties, having a jointed, solid stem and bearing the grain, seeds, or kernels on large ears.
corn
1 American
[kawrn]
/ kɔrn /
noun
-
especially technical and British, maize. Also called Indian corn. a tall cereal plant, Zea mays, cultivated in many varieties, having a jointed, solid stem and bearing the grain, seeds, or kernels on large ears.
-
the grain, seeds, or kernels of this plant, used for human food or for fodder.
-
the ears of this plant.
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the edible seed of certain other cereal plants, especially wheat in England and oats in Scotland.
-
the plants themselves.
-
Skiing. corn snow.
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Informal. old-fashioned, trite, or mawkishly sentimental material, as a joke, a story, or music.
verb (used with object)
-
corns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
corned,
past participle, past
-
corning
present participle
-
to preserve and season with salt in grains.
-
to preserve and season with brine.
-
to granulate, as gunpowder.
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to plant (land) with corn.
-
to feed with corn.
corn
2
American
[kawrn]
/ kɔrn /
noun
Pathology.
-corn
3
American
Corn.
4
American
abbreviation
-
Cornish.
-
Cornwall.
corn
1
British
/ kɔːn /
noun
-
-
any of various cereal plants, esp the predominant crop of a region, such as wheat in England and oats in Scotland and Ireland
-
the seeds of such plants, esp after harvesting
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a single seed of such plants; a grain
-
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British equivalent: maize. Also called: Indian corn.
-
a tall annual grass, Zea mays, cultivated for its yellow edible grains, which develop on a spike
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the grain of this plant, used for food, fodder, and as a source of oil See also sweet corn popcorn
-
-
-
the plants producing these kinds of grain considered as a growing crop
spring corn
-
( in combination )
a cornfield
-
-
short for corn whisky
-
slang an idea, song, etc, regarded as banal or sentimental
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archaic any hard particle or grain
verb
-
to feed (animals) with corn, esp oats
-
-
to preserve in brine
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to salt
-
-
to plant corn on
corn
2
British
/ kɔːn /
noun
-
a hardening or thickening of the skin around a central point in the foot, caused by pressure or friction
-
informal to offend or hurt someone by touching on a sensitive subject or encroaching on his privileges
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cornsimple
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cornssimple
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have cornedperfect
-
has cornedperfect
-
am corningprogressive
-
are corningprogressive
-
is corningprogressive
-
have been corningperfect progressive
-
has been corningperfect progressive
Past
-
cornedsimple
-
had cornedperfect
-
was corningprogressive
-
were corningprogressive
-
had been corningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of corn1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch koren, Old Norse korn, German Korn, Gothic kaúrn; akin to Russian zernó, Latin grānum grain
Origin of corn2
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English corn(e), from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin cornū horn (hence a horny hardening of the cuticle); see origin at cornu
Origin of -corn3
Representing Latin -cornis horned
Explanation
Corn is a plant that grows long ears of kernels on tall, grass-like stalks. Many large farms grow fields of corn each year, for human or animals to eat, or to make corn-based products. Corn is an important crop in North America, since many animals raised for meat eat corn, not to mention the corn that people consume. In addition, products like high fructose corn syrup and ethanol fuel are made from corn. Many people also love to eat corn on the cob slathered with butter in the summer time. In many parts of the world, it's called maize instead of corn, which is an Old English word meaning "grain."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As the first ray of sun hit on an unexpectedly frosty August morning, a few hundred just-graduated Ukrainian paratroopers were traipsing across a corn and rapeseed field, preparing for their first jump.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Add the onion and remaining corn and cook over medium-low until the onion softens.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
U.S. farmers may produce less corn on their land than forecast earlier this year, the Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Menu offerings include appetizers such as Dungeness crab cakes and lobster corn dogs, and entrées such as crispy chicken Milanese, honey miso glazed salmon and a signature Skywalker Ranch Wagyu burger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Alfredo returns home at dusk, carrying stalks of sugarcane and a sack of corn for the pig.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
Some 1929 farm facts: Corn. "2,528,000,000 bushels produced, 308,000,000 less than in 1928 . . . smaller acreage . . . reduced yields."
From Time Magazine Archive
The result is the $31,000,000 American Rediscount Corn., which was to start business in Manhattan last week, after the method of the Federal Reserve banks.
From Time Magazine Archive
These Ears of Corn. gathered and rubbed in my hands upon broken Sabbaths, I offer first to my Wife, and then to my other Friends.
From Unspoken Sermons Series I., II., and II. by George MacDonald
In Welsh the result is ei, in Corn. and Bret. e, e.g.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt" by Various
Talk like the vulgar sort of market men That come to gather money for their Corn. 1st Henry VI, act iii, sc.
From The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare by Henry Nicholson Ellacombe
And that is how a quack who treats the tender corns on pedicured toes suddenly becomes a world-renowned corn doctor in a show that seemingly never met a pun it didn’t like.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025
The emperor wore his hat with the corns parallel to shoulders - known as "en bataille" - whereas most of his officers wore their hats perpendicular to the shoulders.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2023
As for nutrition, 19 candy corns amount to about 140 calories and 28 grams of sugar.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
“This was the beginning of a whole line of prolific corns, and what really struck me was that it was only one person still growing it,” Shields said.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 25, 2019
I asked the counter man if ducks eat dry corns.
From "Girls Like Us" by Gail Giles
Grab a pineapple bun stuffed with ham and butter, a corned beef egg tart, a sourdough one, even pistachio.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
People were stealing "absolutely anything" including "tins of spam, tins of corned beef, all the fresh meat", Ms Whitehead told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2024
I might have a corned beef sandwich at one of the deli spots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
For an article on deli sandwiches, she collected 104 corned beef and pastrami samples in one day to evaluate the meat and sandwich-building techniques.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
It’s a great lump of quivering gray fat and the only sign of corned beef is a little nipple of red meat on top.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
Corned beef, on the other hand, is salt cured — hence the corning process.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2022
Hybrid striped bass are fair with spinners, and highly shaky rattle traps corning bait in shallow water.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 21, 2020
You need only start by corning your own beef.
From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2017
Treasury was corning to the banks for billions more to finance the budget deficit.
From Time Magazine Archive
She could feel the power of the great creature corning off him like waves of heat “I must work till sunset,” he said.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
