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Glite Dictionary
corn spurrey

corn spurrey

9.9
A small plant with thin leaves and white star-shaped flowers that grows in fields
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : esparraguera
  • Corn spurrey is recognized by its slender whorled leaves and star-shaped white flowers.

Examples

  • The farmer noticed corn spurrey growing among his wheat crops.

  • Weeds like corn spurrey can be difficult to control in agricultural fields.

  • The field was overrun with corn spurrey this spring.

  • Many farmers struggle with corn spurrey in their crops.

  • The farmer noticed corn spurrey growing among his wheat crops.

  • Weeds like corn spurrey can be difficult to control in agricultural fields.

  • The field was overrun with corn spurrey this spring.

Synonyms

Spergula arvensis
vscorn spurrey
  • Specialized
9.9

A small European weed with white flowers and leaves in groups called corn spurry

is the common English field name used in cultivated ground
corn spurry
vscorn spurrey
  • UK
9.9

A small weed with leaves that grow around the stem and white flowers in farm fields

is the Latin species name rather than the common field name

Surface Forms

corn spurrey singular
corn spurreys plural

Morphology

corn + spurrey

The structure is a noun phrase where 'corn' modifies a plant name, so a learner who knows both constituents would plausibly infer it denotes a type of spurrey associated with corn or arable fields. However, 'spurrey' is a specific, low-frequency plant name (and here marked as not found in the dictionary), so the precise referent is not transparently predictable from general vocabulary knowledge, making the compositional relation only partially clear.

Etymology

Corn spurrey may come from where the plant was found and an old plant name, because farmers often saw this little 'weed' in corn fields and spurrey was an old name for a low ground plant. So the name helps you picture a small weed growing among the crops today.