dent corn
- noun
- /dɛnt kɔrn/
- Specialized
:
maíz dentado
- Pod corn, popcorn, sweet corn, flour corn, dent corn, and Flint corn.
Examples
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After considerable effort, he discovered someone to stone-grind whole-grist polenta from field-dried Midwestern dent corn.
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There are many, many varieties of seed out there, from the longstanding dent corn to the latest GMO varieties.
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Dent corn is characterized by the dent corn in the top of each kernel.
Synonyms
A type of corn with kernels that have hard and soft parts and a small central dent when dry
A type of corn with hard outer kernel and softer inner part
How Hard
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'dent' = an indentation and 'corn' = maize, so 'dent corn' literally denotes corn with dents in the kernels. Although somewhat technical/agricultural, the phrase describes a visible physical property and follows straightforward noun+noun naming patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words would be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Dent corn is named for the small hollow called a dent that appears on each corn kernel as it dries. The soft part of the kernel shrinks while the hard part stays the same, so the dent appears, and that clear shape is why farmers use this name for corn used to make flour and animal feed.