dutch elm disease
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.31 in modern English
24
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
2
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A disease of elm trees caused by ascomycete fungi in the genus Ophiostoma and spread by bark beetles.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The village is a dignified place of thatch, half-timbering, box hedges and neat farms, set among elms (though not as many as formerly, since Dutch elm disease took its toll) on the level plain of the Pewsey Vale."
- "The process began 50 years ago when Europe’s elms were ravaged by the beetle-borne fungal malady misnamed ʻDutch elm diseaseʼ (which, in fact, is Asian)."
Etymology
Named after the country in which the disease was first identified. (It is not specific to Dutch elms.)