ˈsmut-ball
[f. smut n. 1.]
A single grain of wheat or other cereal affected by smut or bunt; a cohesive body of smut.
| 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husb. IV. iv. 130 (E.D.S.). a 1761 S. Hales in Mills Pract. Husb. III. 128 The moisture that was equal to the weight of the smut-balls and smut that was washed from the wheat. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 154 The grains were..rubbed between the hands, in such a manner as to break the whole of the smut balls. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 954 A longitudinal section of a smut-ball taken when the stamens are fully formed within the corolla. 1883 Good Words Nov. 736/1 Bunt..is known by various names in different parts of the country, as smut-balls, bladder-brand, stinking-rust, &c. |