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Glite Dictionary
corn spurry

corn spurry

9.9
A small weed with leaves that grow around the stem and white flowers in farm fields
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : esparraguera
  • Weeds like corn spurry can compete with crops for nutrients and sunlight.

Examples

  • The farmer was concerned about the spread of corn spurry in his wheat fields.

  • The corn spurry bloomed beautifully in the spring.

  • Botanists studied the growth patterns of corn spurry in different soil types.

  • Look at that corn spurry!

  • The farmer was concerned about the spread of corn spurry in his wheat fields.

  • Weeds like corn spurry can compete with crops for nutrients and sunlight.

  • Botanists studied the growth patterns of corn spurry in different soil types.

Synonyms

Spergula arvensis
vscorn spurry
  • Specialized
9.9

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

is the common English name rather than the scientific name
corn spurrey
vscorn spurry
  • UK
9.9

A small plant with thin leaves and white star-shaped flowers that grows in fields

uses the standard common spelling instead of the variant

Surface Forms

corn spurry singular
corn spurries plural

Morphology

corn + spurry

This is a regular noun–noun compound where 'corn' modifies 'spurry' to indicate a spurry associated with corn or cultivated fields; if a learner knows both constituents they can infer it denotes a plant found in or related to corn. Although 'spurry' is rare and often absent from dictionaries, the modifier-head composition is transparent and meaning is directly derivable from the parts.

Etymology

The noun corn spurry may come from old farming speech. Farmers used corn to mean grain fields and spurry was the old name for the little plant, so the name gives the picture of a tiny weed growing among the crops, which is why it means 'a small weed found in farmer's fields'.