a. Any of various plant diseases, especially of cereal grasses, caused by parasitic fungi of the order Ustilaginales that form black, powdery masses of spores on the affected parts. b. A fungus causing such a disease.

Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V., further reproduction and distribution restricted in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1