corn smut

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noun

a disease of corn caused by a fungus, Ustilago maydis, and characterized by blackish, powdery masses of spores on the affected parts of the plant.

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Origin of corn smut

First recorded in 1880–85

Words nearby corn smut

cornrow, corn salad, corn shock, corn shuck, corn silk, corn smut, corn snake, corn snow, corn stack, cornstalk, cornstarch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use corn smut in a sentence

For the uninitiated, the film is set on a future Earth whose crops (save corn) have been wiped out by a mysterious blight.
Neil deGrasse Tyson Breaks Down ‘Interstellar’: Black Holes, Time Dilations, and Massive Waves|Marlow Stern|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I certainly found it very helpful when I realized we were going to have to grow our own corn.
Christopher Nolan Uncut: On ‘Interstellar,’ Ben Affleck’s Batman, and the Future of Mankind|Marlow Stern|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That must have been some corn for her to remember it 50 years later!
Joan Rivers: The Playboy Bunnies Weren’t Sluts!|Patty Farmer|November 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hilbert was a flashy man who helicoptered five miles daily over corn fields to and from the office.
The Very Rich Should Divorce Very Quietly|Vicky Ward|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He is perfectly capable of introducing a bill requiring all cars to run on corn stalks instead of gasoline.
Up to a Point: In Defense of Lobbyists|P. J. O’Rourke|October 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The man with the automobile, the corn-cure, and the baby grew to be legendary in the villages of Provence.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
I should judge that a peck of corn is about the average product of a day's work through all this region.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
The Vine appears at intervals, but is not general through this region: Indian Corn is also rare, and appears in small patches.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
Then, kindly and gently, the boy took Squinty over to the place where the corn crib was built on to the barn.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum
If he has made up his mind that I'm stealing corn nothing I could say would change his opinion.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for corn smut

corn smut

noun

an ascomycetous parasitic fungus, Ustilago zeae, that causes gall-like deformations on maize grain

the condition produced by this fungus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012