flint corn

American  

noun

1. a variety of corn, Zea mays indurata, having very hard-skinned kernels not subject to shrinkage.

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Etymology

Origin of flint corn

An Americanism dating back to 1695–1705

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

If it wasn’t the King Philip strain, then it was another closely related variety of sweet, deeply flavorful Northern flint corn.

From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2021

Davis Farm in Stonington, Conn., at the state’s southeastern tip, still grows a white flint corn that the family obtained around 1654 from a local tribe.

From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2021

This is about half the time most corn needs to ripen, making Gaspé the earliest maturing Northern flint corn.

From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2021

Preference, however, is most frequently given to white flint corn, which is unquestionably the heaviest, and contains the greatest proportion of farina.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.