corm

plural corms

1. A short, vertical, swollen, underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as drought.

   The saffron crocus has to be planted by hand from corms.

   2002, Victoria Finlay, Colour, Sceptre, published 2003, page 268

   Synonyms: bulbotuber

plural corms

1. informalA cormorant.

   "Great Corm on the barge—fifth bird from the left," shouted a fourth.

   1992, Pete Dunne, chapter 9, in The Feather Quest: A North American Birder's Year, Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, page 135

   1 more example

   These “islands” would provide refuge for corms and other seabirds from sea level rise as habitat is destroyed, as well as protection from land-based predators—people, dogs, cats, rats, and cars.

   2017 March 28, Mark Rauzon, “The Old Bay Bridge Is Coming Down, Leaving a 40-Year-Old Cormorant Colony Adrift”, in Bay Nature, Spring 2017, archived from the original on 19 May 2024