noun
cob
KAHB/kɑːb/
The central core of an ear of corn.
A few kernels remain attached to the mostly bare cob.
Etymology
Many senses of cob seem connected with heaps, lumps, rounded objects, or heads. The corn sense is recorded as “corn shoot,” but its exact connection with those other meanings remains uncertain.
In context
run your knife all the way down the cob and the kernels just come off beautifully like that.
More examples
- We grill corn on the cob for dinner.
- Bare cobs fill the compost bucket.
- A few cobs add sweetness to the soup.
Forms
cob · cobs
Similar words
- corncob
- Names the same core, explicitly identifying it as corn.
- core
- More general; names the central part of many objects.