mesquite

or mes·quit

[me-skeet, mes-keet]

noun

any of several usually spiny trees or shrubs belonging to the genus Prosopis, of the legume family, as P. juliflora or P. glandulosa, of western North America, having bipinnate leaves and beanlike pods and often forming dense thickets.

the wood of such a tree or shrub, used especially in grilling or barbecuing food.

any of various similar or related plants.

Origin of mesquite

1830–40, Americanism; < Mexican Spanish mezquite < Nahuatl mizquitl

Mesquite

[me-skeet, mi-]

noun

a city in NE Texas, E of Dallas.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mesquite

Contemporary Examples of mesquite

Mistletoes on mesquite trees in central Mexico have been linked to a greater abundance of tropical bird species.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants
Helen Thompson
December 21, 2014
“The media really started to pay attention when someone died in 2011,” said Kenny Fritch, a 28-year-old from Mesquite, Texas.
A Report From the Misunderstood Gathering of the Juggalos
Steve Miller
July 28, 2014
Its handle, she notes, was made from a mesquite tree in her back yard.
Holy Molé: Tucson’s Mexican Food with a Kick
Jane & Michael Stern
June 29, 2014
ST: At my house, cooked on my Big Green Egg over lump charcoal and mesquite.
Scott Turow: How I Write
Noah Charney
October 23, 2013
He had scratches on his wrist, maybe from a cholla cactus or from sleeping under a mesquite tree.
Arizona's Immigrant Death Spiral
Bryan Curtis
July 28, 2010

Historical Examples of mesquite

No doubt she could evolve a delicious gum from the mesquite and the incense plant.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
They made their way to the kitchen, and started a blaze with mesquite bark.
The Treasure Trail
Marah Ellis Ryan
But he made the bank and staggering up to the mesquite tree, he untied Peter.
The Forbidden Trail
Honor Willsie
For the first time since the stop in the mesquite, Carmena halted her quick advance.
Bloom of Cactus
Robert Ames Bennet
This suggestion instantly recalled to Clarence his vision in the mesquite.
A Waif of the Plains
Bret Harte

British Dictionary definitions for mesquite

mesquite

mesquit

noun

any small leguminous tree of the genus Prosopis, esp the tropical American P. juliflora, whose sugary pods (mesquite beans) are used as animal fodderAlso called: algarroba, honey locust, honey mesquite

Word Origin for mesquite

C19: from Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl mizquitl

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

Word Origin and History for mesquite

type of North American shrub of the pea family, 1759, from Mexican Spanish mezquite, from Nahuatl (Aztec) mizquitl "mesquite."