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.

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greasewood British  

/ ˈɡriːsˌwʊd, ˈɡriːsˌbʊʃ /

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

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Etymology

Origin of greasewood

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

Example Sentences

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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

The wide, flat valley dotted with greasewood, yucca and bunch grass selected as site for the test explosion is known in Manhattan Project doubletalk as "Trinity."

From Time Magazine Archive

The local touch in making the greasewood bush the first vegetation is very strong.

From Aw-Aw-Tam Indian Nights Being the myths and legends of the Pimas of Arizona by Lloyd, J. William