pearl millet

noun

: a tall cereal grass (Pennisetum glaucum synonym P. americanum) that has large leaves and dense round spikes and is widely grown for its seeds and for forage

Examples of pearl millet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Farmers in Ghana coped with severe droughts from 1450 to 1650 by planting indigenous African grains, like drought-tolerant pearl millet. Chelsea Fisher, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2024 As the sun rose over fields of pearl millet, word filtered through social media: Waris had been nabbed by Manesar on National Highway 919. Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2023 Some are flat rotis made using varied flours, including cornmeal and pearl millet. Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2023 While others in her Zimbabwean village agonize over a maize crop seemingly headed for failure, Jestina Nyamukunguvengu picks up a hoe and slices through the soil of her fields that are lush green with a pearl millet crop in the African country’s arid Rushinga district. Farai Mutsaka and Jamey Keaten, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 Feb. 2023 The area under cultivation for wheat and paddy increased, while the cultivation of coarse crops such as sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra) and small millets reduced from 37.67 million hectares to 25.67 million hectares, according to a study in the Journal of Ethnic Foods. Raghav Simha, Quartz India, 17 Feb. 2021 Now it is being used to grow pearl millet. Stephanie Bailey, CNN, 13 Aug. 2020 Rich ghee and sweet jowar (sorghum), nutty bajra (pearl millet) and earthy lentils, all rendered in tantalizing dals and curries. Marianna Cerini, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Oct. 2022 In the Sahel-Sudan (south of the Sahara), pearl millet—which originates from an area that includes Mali and Mauritania—and guinea corn (sorghum) are the traditional staple ingredients for food, drinks (kunu), and beer (burukutu and pito). Uwagbale Edward-Ekpu, Quartz, 2 Sep. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pearl millet.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1887, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pearl millet was in 1887

Dictionary Entries Near pearl millet

Cite this Entry

“Pearl millet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pearl%20millet. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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