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.
1830–40, < Mexican Spanish mezquite < Nahuatl mizquitl
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
North of the pavement, the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness holds a quieter terrain, where sunflower, ephedra and honey mesquite anchor the sand in subtle defiance of the wind.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
Birds sing among dense copses of mesquite trees; flowers hang heavily from bushes; ocelots and jaguars pass through.
From Slate ● May 26, 2025
It’s three miles from there to State Route 92, a trek through mesquite and grassland, floodplains and furrows that serve as a rough-hewn pathway to the two-lane blacktop and the interior that lies beyond.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2025
About 100 native trees, including desert willows, ironwoods and mesquite, were donated by a local nursery and planted.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2024
The stump end of the dead mesquite was big and heavy.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
The No. 2 company on the list, Hithium, opened a factory last year in Mesquite, Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
The new General Dynamics facility in Mesquite, Texas, will make 30,000 each month once it reaches its full capacity.
From New York Times ● May 29, 2024
In Palm Springs, some neighbors of the former Mesquite Golf & Country Club resisted plans to restore that land to a natural state, saying they preferred the vista provided by a manicured 18-hole championship course.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2024
Police identified the driver as Payton Lawrence, 19, of Mesquite.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 15, 2023
Mesquite grew seemingly out of the solid rock.
From Across the Mesa by Pitz, Henry Clarence
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.
