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green corn

green corn

1 3.0
Young corn picked and eaten before it ripens
  • noun
  • /ɡriːn kɔrn/
  • US
translation icon : maíz tierno
  • Because we're just green corn.
  • green corn tamales
  • field of green corn

Nadever says her fondness for green corn, vegetables and fresh fruit after years of such nutrient laden food.

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Examples

  • "The first green corn of the autumn harvest was being boiled, so I think it must have been early in August."

    Academic text (1992)
  • All the only food they actually had were green corn and a few other things, apples and whatever food they could steal.

  • I must work with the sun on my back, the green corn at my feet, and the wind in my hair.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • And at the end of the rope were beautiful, peaceful fields, with sweet running streams and rustling green corn.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • I used to spend my spare time down on those little islands... ...working truck gardens so my outfit could have fresh tomatoes... ...and green corn and all that.

  • Nadever says her fondness for green corn, vegetables and fresh fruit after years of such nutrient laden food.

  • Ipa had visited the village with her grandmother once and remembered how the adobe houses sat high on a ridge overlooking flat fields of tall, green corn.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Green corn is so sweet it can be eaten raw right there in the field.

  • For a mild dish, try the green corn tamales.

  • In this recipe, green corn is cut from the cob and put on a low fire to stew.

Synonyms

sweet corn
vsgreen corn
7 1.1

A type of corn with sweet, tender kernels that people eat as a vegetable when young

focuses on being picked and eaten while immature and soft
sugar corn
vsgreen corn
  • US
2.5

A type of corn with sweet young ears eaten as a vegetable

highlights harvest at a young, soft stage rather than breeding traits
sweet corn plant
vsgreen corn
2.5

A type of corn people grow for sweet, tender kernels to eat

stresses the act of picking early when kernels are still soft
Zea saccharata
vsgreen corn
  • Specialized
8.4

A type of corn with young sweet ears that people eat as a vegetable

means being picked young and eaten soft as a vegetable
Zea mays rugosa
vsgreen corn
  • Specialized
7.8

A type of corn with sweet young kernels eaten as food

emphasizes edible immature stage and softness rather than botanical naming

How Ripe

overripe
7 3.0
ripe
63 1.0
green corn
  • US
1 3.0

Surface Forms

green corn singular
green corns plural

Morphology

green + corn

The meaning 'corn picked and eaten while still young' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'green' (not ripe) with 'corn' (maize). This adjective+noun composition follows a basic, cross-linguistic pattern so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Green corn comes from the simple picture of corn picked while it is still green, meaning 'young' and 'soft' rather than dry and ripe. So, today green corn means corn eaten while it is young and not fully ripe.