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greasewood

American  
[grees-wood] / ˈgrisˌwʊd /

noun

  1. a shrub, Sarcobatus vermiculatus, of the amaranth family, growing in alkaline regions of the western U.S., containing a small amount of oil.

  2. any of various similar shrubs.

  3. white sage.

  4. Western U.S. mesquite.


greasewood British  
/ ˈɡriːsˌwʊd /

noun

  1. Also called: chico. a spiny chenopodiaceous shrub, Sarcobatus vermiculatus of W North America, that yields an oil used as a fuel

  2. any of various similar or related plants, such as the creosote bush

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of greasewood

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; grease + wood 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Standing atop its foundations, you will begin to notice rocky outlines through the greasewood and creosote, revealing the outlines of hundreds of structures, including houses, storage tanks and open-air aqueducts, stretching into the distance.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2023

By car and plane, buyers hustled to the sun-struck sands and low-lying, spiny, green clumps of greasewood along the shores of 30-mile-long Salton Sea.

From Time Magazine Archive

Only 35 miles east of Phoenix, Superstition Mountain rises dull red and sheer from the sunbaked Arizona wasteland with its yucca, saguaro, greasewood and ocotillo.

From Time Magazine Archive

But to the observant, a careful look reveals surprising signs of a new civilization rising among the ocotillos and greasewood.

From Time Magazine Archive

"What can Providence do with a man who grubs greasewood when he ought to be in bed!"

From Stories of the Foot-hills by Margaret Collier Graham

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