wheat

Everyday

1. Wheat is a tall grass plant grown on farms; its grain is ground into flour to make bread, pasta and cakes. tree →
2. Wheat is also the grain itself. tree →

In the lessons

In school maths: a crop measured in bushels, kilograms, tonnes or acres; amounts per acre or per bag are rates. In science and geography: a cereal crop, grown in big fields in Canada, the USA, Australia and Ukraine; seeds, harvest, food chains. In everyday life: wholemeal bread, wheat allergy. Phrases: «a field of wheat», «wheat flour», «whole wheat».

Examples

• The farmer grew 300 bushels of wheat. tree →
• Each acre gives 40 bushels of wheat. tree →
• He sold half of his wheat. tree →
• A bag holds 50 kg of wheat. tree →
• Bread is made from wheat flour. tree →
• The wheat turns golden in late summer. tree →
• Canada grows a lot of wheat on its prairies. tree →
• Some people cannot eat wheat because it makes them ill. tree →
• A Lark made her nest in a field of young wheat. tree →

Note

Uncountable: «some wheat», «a field of wheat», not «a wheat». Wheat, rice, oats and corn are all cereals. Maths: a crop amount; per acre or per bag is a rate. Wheat is not counted one by one but measured.

In Jewish tradition

Wheat is one of the seven species that praise the land of Israel. It is also the grain of the harvest feast of Shavuot.

Interpretation. Shavuot is called the feast of first-fruits of the wheat harvest, and tradition links the two loaves offered then to the offering from the new wheat.

Examples

• But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten; for they ripen late. — (Torah EXO.9.32, JPS 1917) tree →
• a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; (Torah DEU.8.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. (Torah GEN.30.14, JPS 1917) tree →
• Is it not wheat harvest to-day? (Prophets 1SA.12.17, JPS 1917) tree →
• Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and noisome weeds instead of barley. (Writings JOB.31.40, JPS 1917) tree →
• What hath the straw to do with the wheat? saith the LORD. (Prophets JER.23.28, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Uncountable: «some wheat», «a field of wheat», not «a wheat». Wheat, rice, oats and corn are all cereals. Maths: a crop amount; per acre or per bag is a rate. Wheat is not counted one by one but measured.