Search Result for "ustilago_maydis":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. a common smut attacking Indian corn causing greyish white swellings that rupture to expose a black spore mass;
[syn: boil smut, Ustilago maydis]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Smut \Smut\, n. [Akin to Sw. smuts, Dan. smuds, MHG. smuz, G. schmutz, D. smet a spot or stain, smoddig, smodsig, smodderig, dirty, smodderen to smut; and probably to E. smite. See Smite, v. t., and cf. Smitt, Smutch.] 1. Foul matter, like soot or coal dust; also, a spot or soil made by such matter. [1913 Webster] 2. (Mining) Bad, soft coal, containing much earthy matter, found in the immediate locality of faults. [1913 Webster] 3. (Bot.) An infection of cereal grains producing a swelling which is at length resolved into a powdery sooty mass. It is caused by parasitic fungi of the genus Ustilago. Ustilago segetum, or Ustilago Carbo, is the commonest kind; that of Indian corn is Ustilago maydis. [1913 Webster] 4. Obscene language; ribaldry; obscenity. [1913 Webster] He does not stand upon decency . . . but will talk smut, though a priest and his mother be in the room. --Addison. [1913 Webster] Smut mill, a machine for cleansing grain from smut. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Ustilago maydis n 1: a common smut attacking Indian corn causing greyish white swellings that rupture to expose a black spore mass [syn: boil smut, Ustilago maydis]