POPCORN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does popcorn mean? 

• POPCORN (noun)
  The noun POPCORN has 2 senses:

1. corn having small ears and kernels that burst when exposed to dry heat

2. small kernels of corn exploded by heat

  Familiarity information: POPCORN used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• POPCORN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Corn having small ears and kernels that burst when exposed to dry heat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

popcorn; Zea mays everta

Hypernyms ("popcorn" is a kind of...):

corn; Indian corn; maize; Zea mays (tall annual cereal grass bearing kernels on large ears: widely cultivated in America in many varieties; the principal cereal in Mexico and Central and South America since pre-Columbian times)

Meronyms (parts of "popcorn"):

popcorn (small kernels of corn exploded by heat)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Small kernels of corn exploded by heat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("popcorn" is a kind of...):

corn; edible corn (ears of corn that can be prepared and served for human food)

Holonyms ("popcorn" is a part of...):

popcorn; Zea mays everta (corn having small ears and kernels that burst when exposed to dry heat)

 Context examples 

It is marked by the presence of a type of cell called a popcorn cell, which is different from the typical Reed-Sternberg cell found in classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

(Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma, NCI Dictionary)

About 10 million years ago, a nearby cluster of supernovas went off like popcorn.

(Evidence for supernovas near Earth, NASA)

It is marked by the presence of lymphocyte-predominant cells, which used to be called popcorn cells.

(LPHL, NCI Dictionary)

The researchers planted 45 hybrid corn plants representing the major types of corn — popcorn, broom corn, dent, flint and others — to look for variation in their responses to high ozone levels.

(Study finds rising ozone a hidden threat to corn, National Science Foundation)

A monoclonal B-cell neoplasm characterized by a nodular, or a nodular and diffuse proliferation of scattered large neoplastic cells known as popcorn or lymphocyte predominant cells (LP cells)- formerly called L&H cells for lymphocytic and/or histiocytic Reed-Sternberg cell variants.

(Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma, NCI Thesaurus)