brown rot

noun

: a disease of stone fruits (such as peaches) caused by a fungus (genus Monilinia and especially M. fructicola)

Examples of brown rot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Grow Great Fruit, a website for home fruit growers, says fruit that has been pecked at by birds or is overripe often develops brown rot after hitting the ground. Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Aug. 2025 Peaches are susceptible to several diseases, including peach leaf curl, brown rot, bacterial spot, and peach scab, as well as plum curculio and other pests. Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 28 June 2025 The brown rot could be a fungus rotting out the oak’s heartwood. oregonlive, 26 Mar. 2023 Abnormally hot, wet summers also require peach growers to be more vigilant against brown rot and fruit cracking. Washington Post, 7 July 2021 The 20 or so specimens featured in the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s upcoming Fruits in Decay exhibition suffer from an array of ailments: among others, peach leaf curl, pear scab, gray mold, brown rot, blue mold and fire blight. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 29 Aug. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1835, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of brown rot was in 1835

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Cite this Entry

“Brown rot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brown%20rot. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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