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Glite Dictionary
corn silk

corn silk

1 3.5
Long thin soft threads that grow on the top of an ear of corn
  • noun
  • /kɔrn sɪlk/
translation icon : hilos de maíz
  • Pollen is airborne, and corn silks are not very selective about where the pollen comes from.

Examples

  • Her hair was the color of corn silk and slid prettily down her narrow back.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • YOUR HAIR LOOKS LIKE CORN SILK.

    RocketMan (1997)

  • The loud hum of the helicopters teased the kids as they lay in the fields against the prickly husks and the corn silk.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The adult stage of the western corn rootworm (shown searching for pollen on corn silk) is the target of ARS' first areawide integrated.

    Academic text (1997)

  • When preparing fresh corn, remember to remove the long, soft strands of corn silk from the ears.

  • The chef carefully pulled away the corn silk before boiling the sweet corn for dinner.

  • I found some corn silk tangled in the husks while shucking the corn for the barbecue.

Synonyms

cornsilk
vscorn silk
1 8.0

The long silky threads that come from the top of an ear of corn

is a general term for long silky threads found at an ear tip

Surface Forms

corn silk singular
corn silks plural

Morphology

corn + silk

The meaning is directly composed: 'corn' specifies the source and 'silk' denotes fine, thread-like fibers, so a learner who knows both words can infer 'the fine threads on an ear of corn.' The extension of 'silk' to mean fine strands is common and many languages use a similar literal construction, making this readily transparent to B1 learners.

Etymology

Corn silk names the long, soft threads that grow from the top of an ear of corn. They look like fine silk, so the name came to mean those silky threads.