manzanita
Americannoun
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manzanitas
plural
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any of several western North American shrubs or small trees belonging to the genus Arctostaphylos, of the heath family, having leathery leaves and clusters of white to pink flowers.
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the fruit of one of these shrubs.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of manzanita
1840–50, < Spanish, diminutive of manzana apple; see manchineel
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Example Sentences
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They include the Santa Rosa Island manzanita and soft-leaved paintbrush, according to the park service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
Hikers can see California buckwheat, arroyo willow, black sage, big berry manzanita and hairy ceanothus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
On the slopes, manzanita bushes and blades of grass were poking through patches of what little snow had landed.
From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
Clusters of blushing white bell-like blossoms appear on the manzanita in winter, followed by summer fruit that nourishes resident birds.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 7, 2023
In the afternoon heat they snooze in the dusty dirt beneath that tangle of manzanita trees.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
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Acres of terraced growing areas and multiple greenhouses produced many native plants grown from seed collected around the park such as sumacs, ceanothus, yellow-blooming flannel bush, manzanitas, barberries, monkeyflowers, Catalina cherry, toyon and coffeeberry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2024
For instance, Odell loved the manzanitas that grow prolifically around his family’s 40-acre ranch in Shasta County.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2024
Bohl and her husband removed the lawn and laid 2 inches of river rock approximately 3/4 to 1-inch wide, planting with agaves, manzanitas and yuccas.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
They had protected a swath of homes tucked deep into stands of pines, sycamores and manzanitas, but they were exhausted.
From New York Times ● Sep. 27, 2015
The gorges and summits of these mountains are timbered with largo pines, firs, and cedars, with a smaller growth of magnolias, manzanitas, hawthorns, etc., etc.
From What I Saw in California by Edwin Bryant
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.