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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The brown rot could be a fungus rotting out the oak’s heartwood. oregonlive, 26 Mar. 2023 Western Oregon: Spray stone fruits, such as cherries, plums, peaches and apricots, for brown rot blossom blight, if necessary. oregonlive, 1 Apr. 2022 Control all insect and disease problems, such as brown rot of stone fruits, even in the first few nonbearing years. oregonlive, 8 Jan. 2022 Abnormally hot, wet summers also require peach growers to be more vigilant against brown rot and fruit cracking. Washington Post, 7 July 2021 Among the decaying lot is an apricot showing signs of brown rot caused by a fungus, a strawberry covered in mold, and a bruised pear, all in great detail. Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019 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 In the early 1900s large quantities of fruit were condemned and discarded when market inspectors found entire car lots infected with brown rot, a fungal disease that can devastate stone fruit crops. William Thomas Okie, Smithsonian, 14 Aug. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1835, in the meaning defined above

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

Dictionary Entries Near brown rot

Cite this Entry

“Brown rot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brown%20rot. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on brown rot

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!