Meaning & use
sorghum
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Meanings
noununcountablebiology
a type of grain plant grown in hot, dry areas, used for food and animal feed.
Grammar: Uncountable when referring to the crop or grain; it does not usually take 'a' or a plural.
Patterns
- grow sorghum
- a field of sorghum
- sorghum is grown
Farmers in the dry south grow sorghum because it needs little water.
Sorghum is an important crop in parts of Africa and Asia.
The field of sorghum turned golden in the late summer.
noununcountable
the edible grain from this plant, used in flour, syrup, and animal food.
Grammar: Also uncountable; you can say 'a grain of sorghum' for one seed.
Patterns
- sorghum flour
- sorghum syrup
- made from sorghum
This bread is made with sorghum flour instead of wheat.
Sorghum syrup is a sweetener used in some southern cooking.
The chickens were fed a mix of corn and sorghum.
Common combinations
- sorghum flour
- Sorghum flour gives the bread a slightly nutty taste.
- sorghum syrup
- She poured sorghum syrup over her pancakes.
- grow sorghum
- They grow sorghum where the rainfall is too low for corn.
- a field of sorghum
- A field of sorghum stretched to the horizon.
- sorghum crop
- The sorghum crop survived the drought.
Synonyms and how they differ
- milo
- This is a common name for one type of sorghum, especially in the US; sorghum is the broader term.
- grain
- This is the general word for seeds like wheat, rice, or sorghum; sorghum names one specific plant.
Commonly confused: sorghum or sorgo?
sorghum vs sorgo
Sorgo is another name for sorghum, mainly used in some regions; it is not a different plant.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sorghum' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Sorghum' is uncountable, so it does not take 'a' or a plural. Option C uses it correctly as a crop. Options An and D treat it as countable, and option B wrongly calls it a fruit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sorghum”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.