The Collaborative International Dictionary
Burnt ear
Burnt \Burnt\, p. p. & a. Consumed with, or as with, fire; scorched or dried, as with fire or heat; baked or hardened in the fire or the sun.
Burnt ear, a black, powdery fungus which destroys grain. See Smut.
Burnt offering, something offered and burnt on an altar, as
an atonement for sin; a sacrifice. The offerings of the
Jews were a clean animal, as an ox, a calf, a goat, or a
sheep; or some vegetable substance, as bread, or ears of
wheat or barley. Called also burnt sacrifice.
--[2 Sam.
xxiv. 22.]
Wiktionary
burnt ear
n. smut (a black powdery fungus which destroys grain)