broomcorn

noun

broom·​corn ˈbrüm-ˌkȯrn How to pronounce broomcorn (audio)
ˈbru̇m-
: any of several tall cultivated sorghums having stiff-branched panicles used in brooms and brushes

Examples of broomcorn in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Hermann residents replaced the grapes with broomcorn, and Stone Hill Winery turned its cellars into mushroom farms. Alex Mayyasi, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Nov. 2023 Major innovation didn’t come to broom-making until the late 18th century, when farmers in the United States began growing a variety of sorghum, a stiff-stemmed grain known as broomcorn. Kate Morgan, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023 By the first half of the 1800s, farmers across the Northeast and throughout Appalachia were growing broomcorn, and the American broom-making industry was booming. Kate Morgan, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023 This places the initial stages of cannabis’ domestication in a time and place that is already known as a hotbed of agricultural innovations—where modern crops including rice, broomcorn and foxtail millet, soybean, foxnut, apricot and peach were launched. Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 July 2021 Commercial broomcorn farming has been based in Mexico since the 1980s. Liz Logan, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Oct. 2020 By 1850, sorghum brooms had earned the grain a new name: broomcorn. Matt Blitz, Popular Mechanics, 23 May 2016 See the asymmetrical flush of broomcorn, rattan, and shuro bound in the Edo style by Japanese designer Masanori Oji, which features a handsome curved wooden handle for easy hanging on any prominent hook. Mackenzie Wagoner, Vogue, 9 Oct. 2017 In addition, Botanical Interests carries broomcorn, a type of sorghum for which Broomfield is named. Cindy Sutter, The Denver Post, 3 Feb. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1782, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of broomcorn was circa 1782

Dictionary Entries Near broomcorn

Cite this Entry

“Broomcorn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/broomcorn. Accessed 12 Nov. 2024.

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