cholla

American  

[chohl-yah, -yuh, chaw-yah] / ˈtʃoʊl yɑ, -yə, ˈtʃɔ yɑ /

noun

chollas plural

1. any of several spiny treelike cacti belonging to the genus Opuntia, especially O. fulgida of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, having knobby outgrowths and yellow spines.

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cholla British  

/ ˈtʃoʎa, ˈtʃəʊljɑː /

noun

1. any of several spiny cacti of the genus Opuntia that grow in the southwestern US and Mexico and have cylindrical stem segments See also prickly pear

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Etymology

Origin of cholla

First recorded in 1855–60, from Mexican Spanish cholla “head” (perhaps from dialectal Old French cholle “ball,” from Germanic)

Example Sentences

On Camino Escalante, Guthrie’s squat, orange brick house is set back from the road behind a lawn planted with prickly pear, agave, cholla and yucca.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

“A lot of people test the cholla, like, ‘Is it really painful?’”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 1, 2024

The giant boulders stuck out like warts among the prickly barrel cactuses and the sun-haloed cholla plants.

From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2023

Tabletop utensil caddies formed from wood and dried cholla cactuses.

From Washington Post • Jan. 9, 2023

The cholla and juniper shivered in the wind, and the rumps of the two gray mules were twin moons in front of him.

From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko