smut

views updated May 29 2018

smut / smət/ • n. 1. a small flake of soot or other dirt. ∎  a mark or smudge made by such a flake. 2. a disease of grains in which parts of the ear change to black powder, caused by a fungus of the order Ustilaginales. 3. obscene or lascivious talk, writing, or pictures. • v. (smutted , smutting ) [tr.] [often as adj.] (smutted) 1. mark with flakes or soot or other dirt. 2. infect (a plant) with smut: smutted wheat.DERIVATIVES: smut·ti·ly / -təlē/ adv.smut·ti·ness n.smut·ty adj. (smut·ti·er , smut·ti·est ) .

smut

views updated Jun 08 2018

smut A plant disease caused by a fungus of the order Ustilaginales. Many types of plant can be affected, but smuts are particularly important in cereals and other grasses. The symptoms include the formation of masses of black soot-like spores, and infected plants often show some degree of distortion.

smut

views updated May 11 2018

smut blacken, smudge XVI; affect (grain) with smut XVII. Parallel formations with sm..t are OE. smitt smear, smittian pollute, smītan SMITE, ME. ismotted, besmotered stained (XIV), and also LG. smutt, MHG. smuz, smutzen (G. schmutz, schmutzen).
So sb., fungous disease of plants marked by blackness; black or sooty mark; indecent language XVII. Hence smutty (of grain) XVI; dirty, blackened, obscene XVII.

smut

views updated May 14 2018

smut A plant disease caused by a fungus of the order Ustilaginales. Many types of plant can be affected, but smuts are particularly important in cereals and other grasses. The symptoms include the formation of masses of black soot-like spores, and infected plants often show some degree of distortion.

smut

views updated May 29 2018

smut Group of plant diseases caused by parasitic fungi, also called smuts, that attack many cereals. The diseases are named after the sooty black masses of reproductive spores produced by the fungi. See also parasite

smut

views updated May 23 2018

smut Group of fungi that attack wheat; includes loose or common smut (Ustilago tritici) and stinking smut or bunt (Tilletia tritici).