stem rust

noun

1
: a rust attacking the stem of a plant
especially : a destructive disease especially of wheat caused by a rust fungus (Puccinia graminis) which produces reddish-brown lesions in the uredospore stage and black lesions in the teliospore stage and has any of several plants of the barberry family as an intermediate host
2
: the fungus causing stem rust

Examples of stem rust 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.
Wheat stem rust infection, for instance, is a pathogen normally seen in tropical countries such as Ethiopia, but for years has been observed in high-latitude areas including the U.K. and Scandinavian countries. Tristan Bove, Fortune, 4 May 2023 Researchers have already discovered two new genes that help wheat resist a strain of wheat stem rust, a blight that overruns wheat. Discover Magazine, 2 May 2018 Borlaug landed in the valley in the 1940s as an agricultural adviser for the Rockefeller Foundation while the farmers around him were beset by a fungus known as stem rust. Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of stem rust was in 1899

Dictionary Entries Near stem rust

Cite this Entry

“Stem rust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stem%20rust. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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